The Search For A Poker Face
by drvr8
Summary: Clark and Lois have a post holiday guest from the future.
1. Chapter 1

Thanks go to **Sarahbookjunkie**, **Magali** for providing guidance and feedback through the brainstorming process. Thanks to **EllaBlue (Rayett on DI)** for taking a stab at beta'ing the early draft of the story. She really helped me with the Harry Potter reference, and questions regarding narrative structure and story flow. Thanks to **abbimorgan** as I borrowed a character from her holiday fic. And thanks to **Rachel** for allowing me leeway on my story deadline and just encouraged me to finish it when I could ;)  
First, since this story is so post Christmas/New Years, I decided that was where I would set it. Post holidays, a few weeks into 2010, and decided to make it the bookend to my other holiday story _Trust Me_. I've called it a pseudo sequel, it sort of is? I intend to make all my stories somewhat related and directly have some connection to each other. You don't have to read _Trust Me_, before this one, but there are at least two references to the previous story.  
**  
ACT I**  
_Chapter 1 - Waking_

Pain. There seemed to be a burning inside his head and emanating outwards. Garth's head was pounding and burning. That was the first thing he could feel. He tried to shake off the pain and clear his head. But what had happened? The team had been fighting? Everything felt obstructed within his memories. He was going to try and synch up and something had gone wrong. He'd turned around and turned his back on Tharok. Had Tharok done something to him?

His eyes opened with a start. Darkness. Was he dead? Had Tharok killed him? The momentary thought made him sad. There was so much left undone. Searching for Mekt and uniting his family and his duty to the Legion, but he'd let them down. As his eyes stared upwards, he blinked, his vision sharpening in the darkness. He could see stars above his head. So this is heaven? His mind tried to piece together the last moments of the battle. He and Rokk were setting up a synch-up on Tharok, Ultra-Boy and Imra were fighting Emerald Empress and Validus when he'd seen it. Mano had materialized behind Imra and was going to strike her with his hand. She would have been disintegrated had that happened and he had acted without hesitating as he'd aborted the synch-up and had ended up taking Mano's attack.

Only, he searched his memories, something had happened at the point of impact. His body hurt. That was puzzling? If he was dead, wouldn't he be without bodily pain?

"Easy there, Ron Weasley."

The voice cut through his thoughts like The Persuader's axe slicing thru organic matter. He blinked twice more, preparing himself - if he was dead, he was now going to be faced with his guide. He turned to find the owner of the voice he'd just heard.

"You've had a rough thirty-six hours. You were tossing back and forth in your sleep, calling girls names out in the midst of your nightmares." She stopped to stare at the young man blinking at her in disbelief.

He couldn't believe his eyes. It was as if the holo-images had come to life, for sitting right there next to him was truly an awe-inspiring sight.

"Ron?" she asked as she waved a hand in front of his face. "You okay there?"

"Do all angels look like you? Or is it really you?" he managed to whisper to her.

She smiled but ignored his question. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"Pain," he said without thinking as he blinked his eyes again and tried to remember what happened. "Then darkness."

She studied his face, "Who hurt you?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. It was a huge fight. There were six of us against five of them and no one was really winning and we were going to do a synch-up, Rokk and I, that's our move we do together. We're getting pretty good at it too, but I stopped when I saw Mano about to kill Imra."

"Slow down. You're a soldier?" She put a hand on his shoulder.

He shook his head. "No, I'm in the legion."

"Legion? The Royal Canadian Legion, you barely look eighteen?" She asked intrigued.

"What?" He was thoroughly confused.

"Never mind. You were in a battle? And blacked out?" She drew closer to him.

"Yes. You're sure I'm not dead." He still wasn't sure whether or not he was.

She reached down and pinched his arm.

"Ow!" He rubbed his arm. "Why did you do that?"

She looked at him like he was from another planet. "To prove you were still alive."

"Oh, good. I really wasn't ready to die." Garth closed his eyes and sighed.

"Yep. You're alive," she said. "You're back in good old nineteen fifty-five."

"Oh no!" Panic began to set in. Nineteen fifty-five? That was impossible, yet, here it was, obviously possible. But still, that was impossible. He began to hyperventilate.

She grabbed his wrist and squeezed his hand tightly. His breathing slowed to normal as he stared up at her. "Relax. Sorry I'm just messing with you, Ron." She smiled at him, watching him blink his eyes as looked up at her. "It's the same year it was two days ago."

He sighed. Relief flowed thru him as he shut his eyes and laid his head back down.

"Yep. Good ol' two thousand and ten."

His eyes shot back open. "It's two thousand and ten? Not three thousand?"

"Nope. You didn't pull a Rip Van Winkle, it's still the same year." She patted his shoulder. "Can I get you something? Water maybe?"

He nodded and she left the room momentarily and returned with a glass of water. She handed it to him as he sat up and drank it. He stared at the woman, and blinked twice more, and rubbed his eyes, wondering if his vision would change the image before him. Evidently she was really here as absently reached down and rubbed his arm where she'd pinched him.

"It's really you isn't it?" He asked in a state of wonder.

She shook her head puzzled. "Who else would I be?"

He paused and thought it over. "I don't know."

"You've been out of it for over a day," She studied him carefully. "You sure you okay?"

He nodded and propped himself up on his elbows. "My head hurts some, my body feels like I've been sucked thru a Titan nebula, and apparently I'm being tested by having to face my greatest fantasy."

She looked at him confused. "Your greatest fantasy?"

"I mean, well, you are, you're…you know." He motioned with his head as if to indicate the obvious to her.

She smirked at him. This red headed boy was proving rather interesting. "I'm what?"

"You're Lois," he said in a breathy whisper full of awe and reverence. "The single most amazing woman in all the known galaxies and dimensions."

She laughed. "You must have really hit your head hard. I've barely made a name for myself in Metropolis."

He quickly calculated in his head, 2009, that was the year he, Rokk and Imra had visited Kal. Lana Lang had been there then? There had been no sign of Lois Lane when they'd visited. Only now here she was, more amazing than any of the holofiles he'd seen or souvenir photos sold at the Superman museum.

"Believe me," he gushed, "where I'm from, everyone knows who you are, everyone knows what you do. Everyone." He let out a squeaky, nervous, high-pitched laugh that trailed off into the darkness of the room.

"Everyone?" She asked curious at what he was hinting at.

"Yes, we're all big fans." He couldn't help but grin.

"You do know where you are?" She asked.

"The year two thousand and ten. I've been here before." His smile widened as she looked at him puzzled.

She blinked twice and looked around the room and glanced at her watch. "Smallville said he was going to be right back, that was twenty-five minutes ago."

"Smallville? Smallville, Kansas?" He asked, his ears perking up knowing exactly what Smallville meant.

Her head bobbed back and forth as she thought it over for a second. "Well, it is a part of Kansas. But it's a nickname too. Your cousin's nickname."

"My cousin?" He was puzzled. A cousin?

"Your cousin, Clark?" She said looking at him as if he'd lost his mind.

"My cousin is Clark? Clark Kent?" He could feel his jaw dropping. "The Clark Kent?"

"Uh, yeah." She shook her head again. "The one and only."

His mind tried to come to terms with what she'd just told him. Cousins? There was no way he was actually related to him, but what did it all mean?

"Who were those people you were talking about earlier?" She asked.

"What?" He asked.

"Man-Oh, Rock, Imra?" She raised her eyebrow at him. "They sound like members of a band or pro-wrestlers," she said with an offhanded gesture.

He sighed. "I suppose they are people from the future," he whispered with his eyes cast downward, wondering how he'd ended up a thousand years in the past. He looked up again. She was staring right at him or practically right through him. He felt the heat and intensity in her gaze, a puzzle to her and the worse part was that he absolutely loved it. Her hazel eyes sparkling at him, studying him as much as he was staring at her; Garth realized he kept getting lost in those eyes of hers. "You're more beautiful than any of the holofiles I've seen of you." He clapped his hand over his mouth quickly, realizing that last thought had been spoken outloud.

"Holofiles?" She asked ignoring his compliment.

"Um," he stalled, trying to reprimand himself for being so stupid as to bring up something that wouldn't exist for another three hundred years. "Pictures?" He asked her. He could vaguely remember Rokk telling him about the ancient 21st century methods of storing records in two-dimensional images that had just recently moved from paper to digital images stored on ancient electronic media devices.

He had laughed and called them ancient stone-age records, only he had stared hard at her image on more than one occasion. She, Lois Lane, the one who found the goodness in those who were different and helped mankind welcome alien life forms to the planet. The most amazing woman in the world married to Kal-El. The woman who Kal-El on more than one occasion, overcame death for, returned for to just hold her in his arms.

Garth had found all the stories rather romanticized fables growing up, until he'd met Kal-El in person last year. Kal-El, who had taught them to treasure life, to find any means necessary to save life rather than destroy it. He had studied her holo-image after that, the few rare video files that had survived of her public speaking, after nearly a lifetime of helping protect her husband's identity. She, the woman who gave hope to Winath that Earth would be a friendly planet to their species. And here he was, lying in a bed, staring at her, and he'd just told her she was beautiful? Rokk would definitely tell him he was acting like a complete sub.

He closed his eyes and sighed. The pounding in his head seemed to be dying down some. "I just meant," he started, trying to carefully choose his words, "that your," he had to catch himself again before he said holofile, "picture," he had done it, "does not do you proper justice."

She let a small laugh out.

"Do you want to get up? Maybe eat something?" She asked gesturing outside the room.

Almost in response his stomach growled and he looked up at her embarrassed.

"Come on, Ron. Follow me down to the kitchen." She turned and walked out of the bedroom.

Garth slipped out of bed, stumbled for a moment and righted himself against the door. What a strange and wild journey he thought to himself as he saw her looking back at him with concern. He nodded to reassure her that it was a momentary stumble and proceeded to follow her down the stairs as he held onto the railing.

A thought popped into his head as he watched her turn around at the bottom of the steps. "Why do you keep calling me, Ron?" he asked. 


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2 - Eating_

Garth sat at the counter watching Lois Lane deftly "cooking" as she called it. While she concentrated on the task he studied her expression. She was lost in the moment, biting her bottom lip as she finished applying the last touches to the meal. Garth, sitting at the counter, looked at the woman who would one day introduce Kal-El to the world, lay down her life to protect her loved ones if necessary and fight all odds to bring truth and justice to fruition.

His thoughts were interrupted as she placed the plate down in front of him.

"Thank you, Ms. Lane," he beamed. He had to remind himself that she was not wearing a wedding band and hadn't adopted her future husband's name yet.

"You can call me, Lois." She smiled at him.

"So this Ron Weasley is famous?" Garth asked, curious about the new name Lois Lane had given him.

Lois nodded. "Books, movies, you know, Harry Potter written by J.K. Rowling? It's huge."

He couldn't ever recall Rokk mentioning a Harry Potter before to him. His thoughts about his nickname left his mind as he stared down at the plate. "What did you prepare?"

She looked up and smiled slightly and turned back to the plate. "That stove and I aren't on speaking terms, so I'm boycotting it." She gave a helpless shrug to accentuate her point. "But I made you my specialty. I'm quite famous for it."

Garth thought about it for a moment. There was nothing in the archives about a famous Lois Lane-Kent dish. Some of Martha Kent's recipes had survived, but he could recall nothing that had made it into the historic volume about Ms. Lane-Kent cooking something.

He looked at her waiting for her to disclose her specialty.

She laughed. "It's my famous PB and J." She looked at Garth trying to read some sense of recognition on his face. "Um, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich."

"Oh." He picked up the sandwich and took a bite. It tasted...interesting. "Mmmm."

"Don't worry, I couldn't kill you with a sandwich." She watched him chew and asked, "So when you were growing up, did kids ever tease you about the red hair?"

Garth thought about it a moment and opened his mouth to speak only a strange combination of sound seemed to escape his lips. His mouth seemed stuck together and he used his tongue to try and free his mouth of the delicious sticky substance.

Lois was laughing and said, "Wait. You look like that dog who's given a spoonful of peanut butter."

Garth kept licking at his mouth and teeth and Lois stifled another laugh as she walked over to the fridge and pulled out the milk bottle and poured him a glass. "Milked fresh today. Clark, not me."

Garth was familiar with milk. The nutritional benefits of milk were well documented with humans gaining many benefits from the calcium and vitamins present in the liquid. He gripped the glass and took a cautious sip. The liquid was rich, buttery, and absolutely delicious. He downed the entire contents of the glass and set swallowed the remaining sticky peanut butter substance left in his mouth and smiled.

"That was absolutely delicious. You're a wonderful cook, Lois." He beamed at her.

She poured another glass of milk for him as she watched him wiggle happily on the kitchen stool. As she finished pouring the glass, Garth eagerly began to drink.

"I've tried milk before," he said as he took another big sip from the glass downing the beverage, "but it tastes nothing like this back home."

"Well, this is right from the cow. You can't really get it as fresh as this unless you have a cow." Lois smiled as Garth beamed at her. "We mix ours with H2O, this is practically like a meal in itself."

"Well, Clark collects the milk daily. There's nothing quite like fresh milk right from the cow."

He stopped mid sip. "This is cow's milk?"

"Yes, that's where all milk is from."

"All mammals produce milk though. I just didn't realize it was from the cow. It makes sense though, I see that now." He blinked. He would have to locate a cow when he returned home he thought absently. There still remained the question of whether or not he would be able to get home.

He took another sip and savored the liquid while Lois stared at him as if trying to figure out the mystery he presented. He realized he must have appeared as a very strange person to Lois.

"So this battle you were in?" She asked as her expression changed from sweet and inviting into an inquisitive journalist, probing her source.

"Battle?" He asked nervously, aware that part of the Legion code was to not disclose that you were a strange visitor from the future.

She nodded. "You were talking in your sleep, calling out to people, telling them to take cover, you were screaming out a little bit." She looked at him with sympathy. "How long have you been back?"

"Back?" He wasn't sure what she meant.

"From the war? From your legion?" She came over to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. "I've seen a lot of soldiers in my life, a number of them who've suffered from PTSD. You show all the classic signs."

"PTSD? Is that fatal?" Could people from Winath catch PTSD from humans?

"PTSD. Post traumatic stress disorder. It's a condition, not a disease. You really are strange, Ron Weasley." She gave him a second glance and shook her head and smiled again.

He stared at her smiling at him, losing himself in the moment and then tried to recall the last moments he remembered. "It was just recently, the battle. I honestly can't remember ever leaving. I don't know how I got here."

"Memory lapses?" She narrowed her eyes and tilted her head to the side studying him. "I've experienced those myself. I got a few of them back but it's like putting together a puzzle where most of the pieces are blank and you don't have enough pieces to fill the board."

He nodded. "I could have the same thing? I just don't understand how I got here. I was here a couple years ago and went back...um...to the Legion. I tried to lead my team, take on more responsibility, live up to the code. We live by the Legion code. I just don't remember getting here. The last thing I recall was the battle. I tried to save someone. She didn't see the attack coming." He stopped and sighed. "Honestly, when I saw you, I thought you were my spirit guide and that I was dead."

"Spirit guide?" Lois' curiosity was peaked.

"Like what you would call an angel? Although, I don't think angels could ever look as beautiful as you." He smiled at her and watched her turn away.

"Wow. Quite the charmer, Ron." Lois laughed and put her hand to her chest for a moment grasping something underneath her shirt. "I don't know how Clark would feel about you flirting with his girlfriend though."

Garth stammered, "I would never dare do that."

Lois chuckled as she asked, "Clark said you were his cousin?"

"Kal? Said I was his cousin." His mind raced. Elation and delight surged through his brain as he thought about being Kal-El's cousin. "Yes. We're cousins. Sort of?"

"So you're cousins with Kara and so sort of a cousin that way? Connected to him that way?" She asked as if she already knew the answer.

Garth nodded cautiously. "That sounds reasonable," he disclosed and shrugged. He dreaded having to tell Kal he'd made the lies worse.

She gave him a funny look as if she was unsure what to make of his response. Garth knew from reading all about Lois Lane that if she smelled a story she would uncover it.

"Um, so, this is the Kent farm and I was here a couple years ago. And you aren't exactly a Kent, and yet you're here, a very lovely hostess and taking good care of me, but I haven't heard about you before from Kara." Garth lied trying to get the attention away from him.

"You were here a year ago?" She asked.

Garth cursed himself for exposing more information. "Um, yes. We were here. Some friends of mine and we helped Kal...uh, Clark get a friend of his back."

Lois seemed to do a double take. "A friend? Who was that?"

Garth took a breath. Was he so supposed to lie or not lie? Would she be able to tell if he lied or not? "Um, Chloe Sullivan. She was kidnapped." His instincts told him to stick with the truth.

"Really? You and your friends?" She asked and almost held her breath and didn't blink as she stared at him waiting for his answer.

"Yes?" Garth nodded cautiously.

Lois seemed to appear in front of him and before he could even flinch he felt himself crushed against her in a tight embrace. She seemed to hold him against her for what seemed like forever. Garth noted how amazing she smelled as she held him. She smelled of floral and vanilla fragrances and he closed his eyes and breathed in her scent as he cautiously raised his hands and returned her embrace. She released him eventually and he reluctantly let go and opened his eyes again. She stared at him hard.

"Chloe's my cousin. Thank you for helping bring her back to me, Ron," She stopped and stared. She should really stop calling him Ron if he was Clark's family and he helped rescue Chloe she thought. "Clark said your name was Garth?"

He nodded, hypnotized practically in the afterglow of the embrace.

"Thank you, Garth." She hugged him again. He cautiously reached out to hug her back.

"You're welcome. My friends helped too, Rokk and Imra." He smelled her hair more closely this time as his head went right against hers. He realized he had closed his eyes again, lost in the moment of pure bliss.

She released him. "You'll have to thank them for me as well."

She walked towards the living room. Garth noticed the tree up in the living room and the warmth in the house. She turned towards Garth. "Clark's out still. You play video games?"

Garth shook his head. "No. I don't think so."

Lois blinked twice. "Well, I promise not to go too hard on you. What about a little Guitar Hero?" 


	3. Chapter 3

**ACT II**  
_Chapter 3 - Watchtower_

Clark zipped back into the watchtower.

Dr. Hamilton, Oliver and Chloe all glanced up from the bank of monitors.

"There was no sign of Corben at the warehouse. Tess was telling the truth, he's fully operational and apparently still has a major grudge against the Blur." Clark had just returned from checking out all the possible leads that Tess Mercer had given him. "The Kandorians still deny their involvement in his creation but I would not put it past them to lie about it in order to keep me involved in their plans."

Oliver nodded. "We were tracing Alia. She was tracking you when you were at the warehouse."

Clark hadn't noticed her presence. He had been distracted the last two days with his visitor from the future. "I must be getting sloppy, I didn't realize she was there."

Dr. Hamilton punched up a map on one of the monitors. "She isn't exhibiting any signs of extraordinary behavior. But she is the most unique of the Kandorians as far as we can tell."

"She's dangerous." Clark glanced at all three of them. "She's more than willing to kill any one of you in order to get to me. Just keep your distance when it comes to her. She didn't track me here did she?"

"Relax Clark." Chloe punched up a video feed showing Alia, wearing a familiar looking scarf in front of her face near the monorail tracks stop and turn around and disappear. "She never actually came back into Metropolis. She's been watching Smallville more closely."

Clark felt his heart rate increase. "The farm?"

"No, she's safe." Oliver gave him a reassuring glance. "Alia's been investigating the gorge and Crater Lake."

"AC?" Clark asked.

Oliver nodded. "He'll be here tomorrow to see what she's been doing there. He's the one best suited for jumping in a lake."

Dr. Hamilton took the momentary pause as the opportunity to chime in with the burning question. "Has there been any change in the visitor from the future?" He had been contacted to run a preliminary examination on Garth after he had appeared at the Kent farm. Due to his alien biology, and avoiding losing another member of their team in the hospital, Clark suggested to the others that they leave him at the farm as it only appeared to be a comatose state that Garth was in. The fact that Clark had revealed to him that the red haired young man was actually a visitor from one thousand years in the future had been truly fascinating to the doctor.

Clark nodded. "Lois sent a text that he was up and she was going to give him something to eat." Lois had been under the assumption that Garth was a cousin of Kara's and Clark had been visiting his family while she had been missing. The lies bothered him, but he had felt it was the best thing to do under the circumstances.

Oliver winced. "Oh, that can't be good."

Chloe glared at Oliver and he shrugged. She turned back to Clark, "I'm sure she won't try and make anything too elaborate that could kill Garth."

Clark looked at her without saying anything.

"Any ideas as to how our friend from the future made his return visit?" Chloe asked.

Clark shook his head. "No idea. He was in uniform but didn't have his ring and he was unconscious when he was there. Now that he's awake, I'll see what he remembers about coming here."

He stopped talking and looked out over the view of the city.

Oliver walked up to him and looked at him more closely, his eyes examining Clark standing there looking out over the city. Clark turned to face him and the concern that had been hidden just behind his eyes dropped as he smiled at Oliver.

Oliver raised his eyebrows signaling that he was ready to listen. Clark gave a small laugh to himself realizing he'd been caught in a moment of reflection.

"Yeah," Oliver started. "The whole looming shadow over your head and carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders is hardly noticeable when you smile like that."

Clark couldn't help but laugh slightly at the imagery.

"There's that rainbow smile of yours that all the girls go for," Oliver teased.

"All the girls?" Clark asked.

Oliver nodded. "Well, Zee, Dinah, Mia have all expressed thoughts at one time or another that they thought you were a pretty man."

Clark glared. "You're the pretty boy. Not me."

Oliver gestured with his head out towards the city. "What's really on your mind?"

Clark turned back towards the window, "It's just," he stopped thinking about the last time he'd seen Rokk and had been told he had one day left to live. He still hadn't opened up about that to Lois, but she'd let it go, as she'd let so many things go when he seemed to have to disappear out of the blue or just wouldn't say certain things. The whole honest, open and mature relationship he'd been hoping for was there, it was just, now he was the person in the relationship who was definitely not being open.

Clark thought about what he really wanted to say and opened his mouth to say something and then closed it. Trying to find words to express anxiety seemed odd to him. He took another breath. "The last time I had a visitor from the future, it was to warn me of my impending death."

Unsure how to react, Oliver remained silent and stared out the window as well.

"I let Lois get kidnapped, right from under my nose. I couldn't save Corben, and he's out there gunning for me. I have a murderer from the future running around displaying powers and stalking me, I have the Kandorian army trying convince me to join them in arms against human kind. Mercer is a time bomb who knows everything about me and is trying to manuveur her way into position to best support her own needs. And now I have another visitor from the future who may have come back to warn me that I've already screwed things up again royally. The last time that happened, Jimmy died, Lois took a one-way trip to the future. What could happen now?"

Oliver sighed. "Well, there are two things to keep in mind, Clark. Time travel? While a little over my head, I'm sure he's going to give you relevant information that could help with everything. Even if it is just to deliver a warning, you'd at least know then. We all know you hate surprises."

Clark scoffed at that. "And the second?"

"She chose you, Clark. When you're ready, you'll let her in. But she's with you because she wants to be. So why are you hanging out here with me and the geek squad?" Oliver raised his eyebrow to accentuate his question.

Clark turned to him and shook his head. "I understand what they're saying though."

Oliver shook his head. "I still don't understand how she chose you over me."

Clark furrowed his brow and stared at Oliver. Oliver cracked the slightest of smiles and Clark realized Oliver was testing him. He narrowed his eyes and raised one eyebrow. "You're still giving me grief over that?"

"Why not?" Oliver asked as he grinned wide. "It's hard being the last guy standing on the playground."

Clark tilted his head to challenge Oliver's assertion. "Last guy standing? What about that little moment with you and Dinah I stumbled across at the Christmas party? That was a hell of a-" he added a pair of air quotes on the last word, "conversation."

"Lois made some very strong eggnog?" Oliver suggested.

"If I hadn't walked in, the amount of heat you two were generating was liable to burn down my barn."

"Well," Oliver started, "you effectively doused out the flames with that ever sobering question you asked us both."

Clark nodded. "I'm sorry I was shocked. The words were out of my mouth before I knew I had thought them."

Oliver laughed. "Lois must be rubbing off on you." He laughed again recalling Clark's voice cutting thru the moment. "You two are having sex out here and I have guests!" He threw his hands up in mock horror and frowned in a rather Clark Kentish manner.

"It was more a statement, not really a question." Clark shook his head. "I definitely owe you one after that, sorry."

"Ah, don't worry about it, Clark." Oliver made a face and ran his hand thru his well-groomed hair. "It's complicated. It's been a long distance sort of thing and I don't know if I'm ready for a working relationship."

Clark gave him a knowing glance.

Oliver threw his hands up. "What?"

"Well, you said relationship. It must be serious," Clark raised his eyebrow at Oliver who gave him a guilty look.

Clark smiled at Oliver's reaction. "Anyways, haven't you slept with every executive assistant you've employed?"

Oliver shook his head. "Always the boy scout. Just cause you're dating your co-worker now doesn't mean we're all ready for that."

Clark opened his mouth as if to say something and stopped. A familiar sound reached his ears as he looked off towards the horizon and spun around into his Blur uniform. "I have to go."

Chloe and Dr. Hamilton scrambled to keep from losing the latest data sheets they'd printed out earlier and Oliver just laughed.

"You two are getting paperweights as a very late Christmas gift." He walked back towards them and asked, "We done here?"

Chloe nodded.

Oliver walked towards the door and turned around. "Come on Doc. I'll give you a ride back to the hospital."

Dr. Hamilton stood there a moment.

Oliver stared at him. "Coming?"

Dr. Hamilton pushed his glasses back up his face and asked, "Is Ms. Dearden driving?"

Oliver nodded.

Dr. Hamilton buttoned his coat up. "I'd feel much safer if I walked, thank you though," Dr. Hamilton said as they walked out the door.


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter 4 - Hero_

Garth's brows were tightly furrowed together as he concentrated on the task at hand. His fingers seemed to move of their own accord and almost anticipate each move before it was needed. His foot rhythmically kept time as his hips and upper body moved with music.

Lois stood behind him, staring daggers at him. He said he'd never heard of Gun N' Roses before. Yeah right. The kid's fingers rivaled Slash's axe skills any day. She absolutely hated losing at anything. But the kid hadn't missed a single note, chord or beat. It was like he was the Mozart of freaking Guitar Hero. She hated him! Well, hated losing to him. The goofy looking, red-headed, step-child was probably Axl Rose's cousin too.

Garth was in a musical zone. His eyes shut as the music seemed to take over in his mind and his fingers followed the pattern of the music that had come before. Once he had played the first sequence of notes, it had been easy to see the repetition within the song and memorize the changes. The sound on the stereo system was turned up loud, Lois had said, you couldn't play this game quietly, but he could still hear her mumbling under her breath as he hit the notes.

"...doesn't know how to play the game my ass," her voice trailed off.

He couldn't help but smile. Maybe having an affinity for all things electronic and electrical was an unfair advantage. However, she didn't have to know about his unique set of skills.

As the song finished, he opened his eyes. She was giving him a death glare as he handed her the guitar.

"You got to be kidding me. A perfect score?" Lois asked bewildered.

"Beginner's luck?" He cautiously suggested.

Lois scrutinized him closely. "You've never heard of Gun N' Roses before? Never heard Welcome to the Jungle?"

Garth shook his head.

"You like rock music though?" Lois asked.

"Rokk doesn't play music?" Garth asked confused.

"The type of music. Rock music?" Lois asked again.

Garth shrugged. "Music from the steel age is quite enjoyable, though I'm not too familiar with it."

"Steel age?" She shook her head. "Well, everything begins and ends with Whitesnake." Lois stated.

"White snake?" Garth asked.

Lois nodded as she turned back towards the screen. "You want to impress a girl, learn everything there is to know about Whitesnake."

"OK, I will." Garth said with determination.

Lois couldn't help but smile at his earnest response. "OK Ron Weasley, prepare to get your ass kicked."

Lois started the song and began competitively playing along. If there was one thing that drove Lois Lane, it was the need to maintain her win streak in Guitar Hero. She hadn't lost a single song to anyone before. Well, there had been the time Clark had distracted her and she'd stopped playing. But really that didn't count. It hadn't been fair that he had chosen that moment to take his shirt off in the middle of her match and she'd missed three bars of the song.

Lois shook her head to clear her thoughts of a very naked Clark Kent and concentrated on the task at hand, doubling her efforts to at least tie Garth's perfect score. As if channeling her inner Slash, her fingers seemed to fly as she played along to Welcome To The Jungle and her confidence seemed to grow. The only thing she couldn't imagine was how Garth had closed his eyes and played along to the song.

Not wanting to be out performed, she decided to show Garth how a real rock star shredded on an axe. She waited for the height of the guitar solo part to come up and did a Pete Townsend-like inspired leg kick.

It had been a brilliant plan. Really, it had been brilliant. Do the kick finish the solo and watch Garth's mouth drop. Well, his mouth dropped, only he was staring down at her as she looked up at him from the floor.

The kick had been brilliant. The landing had been the larger issue though. She'd landed awkwardly and stumbled back, crashed into the Christmas tree and had fallen squarely on her backside.

Garth looked at her with concern. "Are you OK, Lois?"

She looked around. She'd shattered two of the red ornaments and they lay on the other side of the tree. The tree had appeared to nearly topple and rested at a precarious angle and had knocked off several Christmas cards that were previously on the mantle.

She nodded. "I meant to do that," she lied.

"Oh good, I was worried." Garth sighed in relief. "So you kicked my ass?"

She shook her head. "Only if I was doing an impression of a drunken rock star."

Garth put his hand out to help her up and she took it as he pulled her to her feet. She straightened the tree and pushed the little bits of metallic material as far behind the tree as she could.

"Shouldn't we clean that up?" Garth asked.

Lois shook her head. "Not right now. We'll hide it for now and clean it later."

"Are you sure? Won't Clark be upset?" Garth asked.

"Nah," Lois lied. "It won't stain the floor if we leave it there for a while. And the tree has been up way past Christmas anyway. It's about due to be hauled out for the garbage men to collect it."

She bent down to pick up the cards that had fallen. She happened to glance at the first one and smiled as she put it back up on the mantle, smiled as she read the second and set it back on the mantle. She stopped when she read the third card and stared at it for a moment and scowled. She recalled the first occasion she'd seen the card.


	5. Chapter 5

_**[A/N Yay! One review. Hopefully more to come?]**_

**ACT III**  
_Chapter 5 – Post Seasons Greetings (FLASHBACK To A few days after Christmas)._

_Lois Lane had learned over the years that the key to breaking into places that you didn't belong in was to act like you were supposed to be there. She held a mini skirt in her arms that Jeff had picked up last week and she had forgotten to remove from her car. Lois walked down the halls reading the nameplates on the door and found the room she was looking for. Jackpot. Now, to get to the bottom of the mystery she thought as she grabbed the door and threw it open._

_Why would Clark get a Christmas card from her? And why would that woman insinuate something so suggestive in a holiday greeting card. And why would Clark put it up on the mantle?_

_"Oh, hi there," Cat Grant said full of bubbly warmth. Cat finished taking off her top and stood in her pink bra and matching panties and matching garter. Lois could tell from the cut of the bra that they were the Victoria's Secret Angel collection. "You must be filling in for Karen today. Give me two minutes and I'll be ready."_

_Lois gave her a cold stare as she walked in and shut the door to the wardrobe room. She fixed herself firmly in front of the door and crossed her arms staring at Cat's well-toned athletic body and her megawatt smile. She hoped she could control herself long enough to speak to her first before knocking that saccharin laced smile off her face._

_"I'm not wardrobe, hair or make-up," Lois explained._

_"Really?" Cat asked. "Are you a fan? Do you want an autograph? If you just step outside and wait I can give you a signed headshot after I finish changing?"_

_She reached for her pair of jeans and began putting them on, Lois walked towards her sizing her up._

_"No autographs," Lois said coolly as she gazed at Cat with an overwhelming urge to grab her ear and twist it to bring her to her knees. "In fact, if anyone should be asking for an autograph, you should be asking for mine."_

_"Oh," Cat said as she tilted her head to the side and studied Lois as if trying to recognize Lois._

_Lois took a breath, ready for this confrontation. "Look, there's been lots of odd things going on in my life lately. And now something involving you has come into my life."_

_"I'm sorry, am I supposed to know you?" Cat asked shaking her head. "I just don't recognize you at all."_

_"That's probably because you don't read," Lois muttered under her breath. She closed her eyes and realized her hands were clasped into fists. She unclenched her fists, straightening her fingers out. It was probably best to talk first before throwing down. "We haven't met before, but I know you well enough," Lois said as she nodded._

_"I'm Cat Grant, Good Morning Metropolis, and you are?" Cat asked as she held out her right hand._

_"I'm not amused," Lois said as she got up closer to Cat. "I was supposed to be working on this show. They gave you my job after blonds apparently tested better with morning viewers."_

_Cat made an embarrassed face. "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. I wasn't even trying out for the position."_

_Lois stared hard at Cat's eyes that seemed to reflect genuine empathy towards her. "You're good. You're very good. It was just a pure accident the show decided to go with the bubbly blond bimbo."_

_Cat frowned at her. "I am not a bimbo."_

_"You are so a bimbo," Lois said as she pointed at her. "Acting all innocent, acting like the girl next door while you parade around with those," she said as she gestured at Cat's chest still in her pink bra. "You're like Martha Stewart with a boob job."_

_"Now just hold on a minute, whoever you are." Cat was visibly irritated and Lois could tell she was starting to drop that fake perky exterior. "I didn't audition for the job, Ms. Gleason called me and offered me the position three days after my Net date with Clark Kent. I told her no at first, that I was working on my doctorate, but she refused to take no for an answer and convinced me to give it a try." She paused for a moment and put her hands on her chest and lifted her breasts up at Lois. "And these, are one hundred percent real."_

_Lois stared hard at her, trying her best to keep her face as expressionless as possible, she glanced momentarily back down to Cat's chest to verify her claim. She raised her eyebrows as she noted the way they naturally moved as Cat breathed. Perhaps they were one of the push-up bras that made it look like more than what it was she thought to herself absently._

_"But for the record," Cat's voice broke through Lois' thoughts. Cat took a breath and stated, "I apologize if you feel like I took the job away from you."_

_Lois just stared at Cat, growing angrier the way Cat kept acting so nice even in the midst of a confrontation. Yep, it was official, Lois hated Cat Grant and her super sweet, girl next door act. Lois' eyes narrowed as she gave Cat a, die already bitch, death stare._

_"The job," Lois said ignoring Cat's apology, "just wasn't enough for you though was it? I mean you're a poor imitation of me, they even posed you in the promo photos in the dress I wore. But the dress and the job weren't enough for you? You had to try and snag my boyfriend too."_

_"Your boyfriend?" Cat asked with a puzzled expression on her face. "Who's your boyfriend?"_

_"Clark," Lois said as she put her hands on her hips. "Clark Kent is my boyfriend. "_

_Cat made a face like she'd taken a bite out of a lemon and looked at Lois. "You're the girl he keeps talking about?" She asked in disbelief. "Who would have thought that?"_

_Lois sighed with irritation. "Everyone."_

_"To be fair," Cat said as she shrugged, "I've never seen the two of you together. So who knows?"_

_"You're a snob as well as a slut," Lois declared. She reached into her jeans pocket and pulled out the Christmas card and held it up as visual proof and waved it at Cat. "And you, Mother Teresa in," she stopped mid rant to make a gesture to Cat's bare midriff and barely there panties, "lingerie, you're out there making offers to him in secret while pretending to make Metropolis' mornings a little brighter?"_

_"First of all," Cat blinked in disbelief. "What are you even talking about?" Cat exclaimed._

_"Say what again! I dare you," Lois threatened a little too loudly staring at her intensely._

_A quick knock sounded on Cat's door and it was quickly opened._

_"Cat, national needs you for five-," the woman's voice trailed off as she surveyed the tense standoff. "Everything OK in here, Cat?"_

_"Why don't you just close that door and walk away. Give us two more minutes to clear the air," Lois said as she turned around to face the intruder._

_"Lois?" The woman asked. "Lois Lane?"_

_Lois recognized her. "Ms. Gleason."_

_"It's Deborah, Lois. What are you doing here? And is everything OK here?" She glanced at Cat who was visibly agitated and looked at Lois who had straightened herself up and was practically beaming at her. "You could cut the tension in here with a knife."_

_"Everything's fine, Deborah, really," Lois lied._

_"Lois here accused me of stealing her job and trying to steal Clark Kent from her," Cat said quickly. "And apparently I'm a snob and a slut," Cat said with a snide expression on her face._

_Lois turned back around to glare at Cat. "Tattletale."_

_"I'm really sorry, Lois," Deborah said as she closed the door in the suddenly very cramped wardrobe room. "I didn't have the heart to tell you at the time, but the station just couldn't hire you."_

_"Why? Because I'm not as perky and as blond as Ms. Peroxide over there?" Lois asked._

_"I do not dye my hair," Cat said smugly._

_"Please," Lois said as she gestured at Cat's hair. "As a woman who has dyed her hair as much as I have, I know a peroxide job when I see one."_

_"Lois," Deborah's voice interrupted the little spat. "KZXP couldn't afford the insurance premium on you. We had to let you go because the monthly payments to fully insure you would have been more than the whole news department's budget." Deborah explained._

_"It was all about insurance premiums?" Lois asked perplexed._

_"Lois, a street thug shot a semi-automatic weapon at you and your date at the end of the evening," Deborah said with a sigh. "And you broke the cardinal rule of television. You did all of it off camera, so there was no actual proof to show that your story was real to the insurance company."_

_"So Blondie here is just your quickie replacement for me?" Lois asked._

_"I'm getting tired of the blond cracks," Cat said as her irritation grew._

_"We liked her date with Clark a lot. We offered Cat and Clark the contracts." Deborah sighed. "I still wish Clark would reconsider the offer. There was no way I wanted to let a man like that get away from this station."_

_"Wait what?" Lois asked. "What about this whole offer thing?" She spun back around to face Cat. "What's the deal with this offer?" She held the Christmas card out to her._

_"The job offer, the station made to Clark, it's a standing offer," Cat said with irritation. "We're going national in February and I wanted him to be my co-host after Deborah and I talked about having a male perspective on the show."_

_Lois spun back around to face Deborah Gleason. "You're trying to steal him away from the Daily Planet?"_

_"The first offer he declined outright. The next two offers over the last two months he didn't contact us back about those. I set up a meeting with Cat, Clark and myself and we brought a contract, it included a healthy six-figure salary and points in the syndication deal." Deborah sighed. "I still can't believe he said no."_

_"He said no?" Lois asked._

_Cat interrupted. "I think Clarkie's exact words were, 'The Daily Planet is my home.'" She gave a frustrated sigh and turned to face Deborah, "I still think we should have offered to change the name of the show to the Live, With Clark and Cat." Cat had finished putting on her shirt. "I'm going to head over to hair and make-up, we're OK, Lois?"_

_"You swear, you've never solicited Clark and never will in the future?" Lois asked pointing at her._

_"Even in the future?" Cat asked a little too disappointedly._

_Lois nodded._

_"What if you two break-up?" Cat asked. "It would be OK then to get together with him? You know, a friendly shoulder to cry on."_

_Lois stared at her. If there was ever a time she wanted laser beams that shot out of her eyes when she was angry, this very moment would have been that time. "Clark and I are not breaking up, so that would never happen, ever."_

_Cat shrugged. "All the really scrumptious ones get scooped up so fast," she lamented. "I promise then." She nodded to Deborah as she left the room._

_"Well, this was a lot of embarrassment over a simple card I guess," she said as she smiled awkwardly at Deborah. She glanced back at Lois, as she was about to close the door.  
"For the record, Lois, I did ask him out on a second date and he did say no. He said he found someone who was truly special to him." Cat shrugged. "I really don't get what you have that I don't have."_

_Lois gave her an irritated smile and added, "Well, I do have Clark."_

_Cat sighed. "Yes, you most certainly do. Some people were born lucky." She started to close the door and as an afterthought smiled at Lois. "Oh, and when you want to threaten someone and intimidate them, you shouldn't quote lines from Pulp Fiction. 'Say what again'. Like I wouldn't pick that up?"_

_"And don't call him, Clarkie!" Lois managed to yell as she stared angrily at Cat as she shut the door finally._

_"Lois," Deborah said as she put her hand on Lois' shoulder. "Do you know what he said when I asked him the first time why he didn't want to leave his job as a glorified copy boy and join us here at KZXP?" Deborah asked smiling._

_"I don't know. Maybe he'd miss the sludge they try to pass off as coffee at the Daily Planet?" Lois quipped._

_"No," Deborah said as she chuckled. "He said that his heart and home started with the Daily Planet and that he started working there because of you. He also said he was only here for you."_

_Lois felt a little rush at the information but pressed further. "He only came in an effort to secure a second date with me."_

_Deborah nodded as if it wasn't a surprise to her. "Clark did mention that as the reason for coming to the audition with you. But he did tell me something else of interest when I gave him that first job offer."_

_Her curiosity getting the better of her, Lois tried to remain cool and collected as best she could and closed her eyes as if weighing the information. "What was that?"_

_"Clark said he wasn't going to take a job and leave you behind." She stopped and titled her head as if picturing the conversation from memory. "He said you two were the package deal or it wouldn't work." She stopped for a moment and seemed to recollect the image in her mind._

_Lois stared at her, thinking about all the times in her life that she'd truly felt left behind._

_"I had to tell him," Deborah continued, "we legally couldn't hire you, due to being an uninsurable television asset. He seemed to get a kick out of that and thanked me for my time."_

_Lois reluctantly nodded. Clark did say she had a knack for getting herself into trouble, which drove her crazy and only seemed to drive her into more trouble._

_"When he was getting up to leave I asked him whether he'd gotten that second date. He said he didn't know where things stood between you two, but he wasn't going to run anymore," Deborah looked at Lois thoughtfully._

_"He didn't know where I stood with him?" Lois asked confused as she recalled Clark coming into the bullpen and interrupting her apology by grabbing her and planting a truly amazing kiss on her._

_Deborah nodded. "It was the day after your date, Clark assumed your date with Mr. Queen had gone extremely well."_

_"Oh," was all Lois could manage to say._

_"I take it, he finally got his second date with you that he was trying so hard to prove to you that he deserved?" Deborah asked with a wink. "I mean you wouldn't be busting down doors and storming in here with both barrels blazing if you didn't feel a little bit of an attachment?"_

_Lois nodded absently, recalling that moment in the newsroom when Clark had walked in, he'd seemed nervous, she saw there were words he needed to say. She had rambled on, nervous to hear whatever words he had to say to her, and he'd given up trying to derail her ramblings by simply kissing her._

_"We've had a few dates since then." She said as she looked at Deborah. "But to be fair, I didn't bust down any doors or fire off any shots."_

_"No, I suppose you didn't do anything but find out who's been making offers to your man." Deborah gave Lois a warm smile and prepared to leave. "Well, you take good care of him," Deborah said with a wink. "I still see great things for you two in the future together." As an afterthought she turned around at the door and said, "If I was ten years younger, I would have given both you and Cat a run for your money."_

_**[Hope you enjoyed the chapter. If not or if you did, please take a moment to review :D Any feedback is appreciated.]**  
_


	6. Chapter 6

_Chapter 6 - Reflections_

"Lois? Lois?" Garth's voice broke through her memories and she glanced at him. "Are you sure you're OK, Lois?" Garth asked cautiously.

She took the card and stuffed it into her jeans front pocket. She'd initially wanted to confront Clark, knock him down and beat him up over it. But the whole, curiosity aspect as to why Cat had actually kept contact up with him was too curious to pass up. She still hadn't told Clark she had discovered his secret she thought to herself and smiled.

"Yeah, I'm good Garth." She went to the couch and sat down, Garth kept staring at her like a skittish puppy. "You win this round, OK? Come and sit down."

He started to walk towards her and then stopped. She patted the couch to signal to him to sit next to her. A sudden nervous wave engulfed him. Lois Lane wanted him to sit down next to her. He had to swallow and get himself under control.

He nervously slid onto the cushion next to her. Lois stared ahead at the television but didn't seem to be paying much attention to what was on the screen.

"You have a girlfriend, Garth?" She asked absently.

He blinked twice. "Hmmm. Uh. What?"

"A girlfriend? Someone back home." She turned and looked at him.

Garth could see something in her eyes that eased his nervousness. She genuinely wanted to know. He thought for a moment.

"No. No girlfriend," he finally admitted.

Lois recognized the look in his eyes as he spoke. It reminded her of a certain farm boy who had extreme difficulty expressing his feelings.

"Who is she?" She asked.

"I don't have a girlfriend, Lois," Garth said with his mouth. Lois read his eyes though.

"Who has your heart tied up in knots, Garth?" Lois asked and touched Garth's knee.

Garth started with her touch but quickly composed himself. He sighed and thought he may as well tell her. "Well," Garth opened up. "It's someone I work with, she's sort of part of the Legion. But it's sort of complicated."

Lois looked away from Garth and nodded. "How complicated?"

"Well, one, we work together, we see each other all the time. We have an intense relationship, we've been through so much together but it's more than that too." Garth sighed.

"What do you mean?" Lois asked. "What's wrong with working so intensely with someone, and developing feelings for them?"

Garth thought about it. "Well, there's nothing wrong with developing feelings for someone you work with, I guess, but is it all real? Or is part of it just because everything you've gone through is so intense?"

Lois smiled. "Were you looking for love? Or how did you develop feelings for her?"

"I," Garth thought for a moment. "It was just doing our job, working together. Then realizing when I wasn't around her I missed her."

"So," Lois said making a sweeping gesture with her hands, "it kind of just happened, without really knowing it happened?"

"Well, yeah. But it's still so complicated. It's sort of like she's in my head, all the time." He admitted.

"I know that feeling." Lois looked off thinking about her own experiences.

"No, she's really in my head," Garth explained. "Sometimes I'll look at her and see her standing there and think about how much I care for her and forget that she can read my mind."

Lois shook her head. "I'm sure she can't really read your mind." Lois looked at him carefully. "You do have a terrible poker face, Garth."

"Poker?" Garth asked.

Lois stared at him. "Were your parents Puritans or Amish?"

Garth shook his head. "No, neither. I grew up on Winath. It's sort of a mud ball out in the middle of no where."

Lois nodded in understanding. "Home schooled. Got it." Garth gave her a baffled look but she continued without noticing. "Poker, is this gambling game where you get cards and try to make the best hand, and you are gambling against other players and you can bluff and pretend to have the best hand and other people give up because they believe you." Lois thought wickedly for a moment. "You should definitely come to one of our games and play a hand or two. Nothing like a trial by fire to get your feet wet."

Garth thought about it a moment. "If I have a terrible poker face, that means I'm not very good at pretending to have a good hand?"

Lois laughed, "No. It means you have a difficult time masking your emotions."

"Oh," Garth said. "Well, it is nearly impossible hiding anything from Imra because she's so empathetic."

"Have you tried talking to her about things?" She asked.

Garth pursed his lips and scrunched his brow. "I tried. She's sort of close to another Legion member right now, Ultra Boy. All the girls think he's really amazing, but I saw them hugging. Maybe she wants someone like that. A perfect looking guy, someone who never screws up and messes up, like I seem to do. I'm definitely not an Ultra Boy."

Lois hand reached out and slapped Garth lightly to shake him out of his moment of pity.

"Hey! What was that for?" Garth asked as he rubbed his cheek.

"That's because you're acting like an idiot. Kind of like your cousin Clark used to do." Lois said.

"Oh." Garth sighed. "What should I do then?"

"Talk to her. Either tell her how you feel and get hurt or just stand there and do nothing and be hurt." Lois said flatly.

Garth thought over her words and then furrowed his brow as he tried to make sense of it. "But both those scenarios end with me hurt?"

"Well, there's always the crazy possibility that this Imra chick is nuts enough to like you? Besides, sometimes love is worth fighting for." Lois suggested. "Not in the blow things up kind of fighting, but fighting for what your heart wants."

Garth thought it over. "You're right. I'll never know unless I actually take a chance."

"Definitely, that's how you have to live your life. It's better to know for sure, then to not know at all." Lois said as she thought about a completely different situation. She'd tried to bury that urge to tear out of the house and track down that woman, the author of the card. She'd tried to engage Garth in a heartfelt conversation, but the only thing going thru her head was to get to the bottom of it.

"You are so cool, Lois. You make everything make so much more sense." He beamed at her.

She shook her head to clear her mind. She was cool, calm, collected. She didn't have to leave. "Thanks, Garth. It comes from years of real world experience and about twenty minutes of yelling at the TV when Dr. Phil is on," Lois admitted.

Garth still beaming gushed, "I can totally see why Kal is completely in love with you."

Lois blinked. "What?" She asked. "Who's Kal?"

Garth spoke again without really thinking, "Kal is Clark." Oops, he thought to himself.  
"It's kind of what my friends and family call him?" Garth's voice trailed up as if he was asking a question instead of stating a fact.

"Oh." Lois said quietly. "And he told you he loved me?"

"Uh, no." Garth said. "But I think it's obvious? Isn't it? I mean he wouldn't think about marrying someone he didn't love, right?"

Lois stared at him hard, for a moment it seemed she had forgotten to blink at all.  
"Mrs. Smallville? Me?" Lois managed to whisper under her breath to herself and took a deep breath. "We put that discussion on an indefinite hold, Garth?"

Garth's face reflected his realization of what he'd just said to her. "Oh. Um, it's just that, um." Garth couldn't find the words to explain away what he'd said.

Garth's strangeness was only trumped by the weirdness of his conversation. What information did he know that she didn't?

Just as she was going to ask him to explain himself her phone beeped at her. She pulled it out and glanced at the message. "You got to be kidding me, now?" She shoved the phone back into her pocket. "I need to meet a contact of mine in Metropolis." Lois sat up and grabbed her purse and coat and quickly put both on. "Don't worry about it, Garth, tell Clark I'll be back soon."

"OK. I could come with you?" Garth suggested.

She pictured it in her mind, dragging Garth around, breaking – no sneaking into – wherever she had to get into to find her Intergang contact. "No. You stay here and wait for Clark. Put on a DVD or something." She tossed a couple DVDs to Garth. "I'll see you later, Garth. Don't do anything I would do."

"What wouldn't you do?" Garth called out as the door slammed shut. Garth watched her leave the house and collapsed on the couch again.

"Kal's going to kill me," he said as he grabbed one of the throw pillows and buried his head in it and groaned. 


	7. Chapter 7

**ACT IV**  
_Chapter 7 - Clarity_

"Sorry I took so long. A few unexpected details popped up that I couldn't wait on." Clark assessed the house as he walked thru the kitchen. No sign of Lois diving into the chaos of the kitchen trying to surprise him with dinner he noted thankfully. Absently, he thought maybe take-out Chinese tonight would be good after all the holiday eats, the ham and turkey leftovers. Nothing was disturbed or moved, the television was on and the sound was low. He walked into the living room and glanced around quickly, something felt off.

"I'm back," he said warmly as he walked around the couch and stared into the eyes of Garth, beaming back at him.

"Kal!" Garth hopped off the couch and stepped forward to Clark as if to shake his hand or hug him, trying to make up his mind in the middle of the gesture he left his hand out for Clark.

Clark smiled and pulled him into a hug. "I'm glad you're awake. You had us worried there, Garth."

"It's good to be awake finally. I had a number of nightmares as Lois called them, and she thinks I am suffering from PDST." He looked at Clark and nodded as if agreeing with Lois' diagnosis.

"PDST? You mean post-traumatic stress disorder? PTSD?" Clark asked.

Garth thought for a moment. "I'm not sure, Lois was talking a lot."

"What happened to Lois? Where is she?" Clark asked looking around scanning the house and barn quickly.

Garth shrugged. "She mentioned something about having to run a quick errand or two and she'd be back later."

Clark made a face. With everything that was going on lately and with who was keeping close eyes on them, the last thing he wanted to do was see Lois go running off on an errand without telling him where she was going.

"I was also wondering, Garth, why are you here? Do you have information for me? Or a warning or something?" Clark asked. The last thing he wanted to do was wait for more bad news. If there was something to prepare for, he needed to take caution now.

Garth moved from one foot to the other. "I don't know. I don't think so?"

"What do you mean you don't think so, Garth?" Clark inquired.

Garth threw his hands up and collapsed back onto the couch. "Kal, I don't know how I got here. I wasn't trying to come back. Although, it's been totally," he stopped for moment thinking of a word to describe the feeling, "awesome. Being able to meet 'the Lois Lane' in person, before she becomes, well, who she becomes." He grinned a little too wide at Clark.

Clark shook his head. "Wait, but how did you get here? You didn't have a ring on when you got here? How did you time travel?"

Garth shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe someone hit me with a time travel beam? Maybe I hit eighty-eight miles an hour and poof, here I am!"

"She let you watch Back To The Future?" Clark asked.

Garth nodded enthusiastically. "I enjoyed it immensely. In fact, when I was waking up, Lois pretended it was nineteen fifty-five, just to reinact that scene in the film where Marty wakes up. You didn't strike me with your car did you?"

Clark shook his head. "No. You kind of just popped into the living room with a crash and you ended up knocking over the tree." Clark pointed at the Christmas tree and noticed the little pieces of broken ornament at the back of the tree.

Clark surveyed the room, glancing at everything in the room. Things suddenly clicked in his head. "Garth?"

Garth tilted his head and looked at him. "Kal?"

Clark picked up the toy guitar and held it up. "You did it, didn't you?"

Garth looked around nervously. "Did what? What did I do?"

"You did something that none of us would dare to do, Garth." Clark held out the guitar at him. "You beat Lois at Guitar Hero, didn't you?" He scowled at Garth and gave a frustrated sigh.

"What?" Garth asked, shocked that Kal had deduced the truth so quickly from the evidence. "She told me to give me her best shot. It wasn't my fault."

"And in her effort to top you she fell into the tree didn't she?" Clark asked.

Garth blinked, clearly amazed by Kal's detective skills. For a moment he considered lying and saying he didn't know what Kal was saying but Kal's hard stare definitely intimidated him. He looked at Kal guiltily and nodded.

"Why'd you do it Garth? She's very, very competitive with everything. Always let Lois Lane win or she won't stop until she hurts herself trying to beat you." Clark sounded extremely frustrated. He sighed again and ran his hand thru his hair. "I'm glad you're awake though. We were worried."

"I'm sorry I beat her," Garth gave him a sheepish look. "You really figured out all that just by looking at the tree?"

Clark nodded. "That and the broken pieces of ornament pushed to the back of the tree." They both gazed at the broken pieces of ornaments Lois had tried to hide.

"I wasn't sure about who to tell Lois you were," Clark said as Garth turned back around. "I ended up telling her you were my cousin on Kara's side of the family and I was visiting you this summer."

Garth nodded. "It's an honor to be considered that, Kal. When Lois stated that, I went along with it."

"Good." Clark said. He thought a bit more about the reality that Garth had no idea how or why he was here. Yet, he wasn't sure whether he was going to have to do something to help Garth get back home or not. "Are they going to be able to locate you in this point in time?"

Garth thought it over. "I was thinking about that while I was watching Back To The Future, coincidently where I have to get to," he said with a grin. He looked off towards the right, thinking, and finally said, "If the jump thru time had been of my own doing, using a Legion time ring, yes, they could track me, however, the fact that I didn't have my ring on during the fight, means I travelled without using temporal displacement technology they'd knowingly track." He stopped and sighed. "I'm sorry, Kal, I really don't know."

Clark nodded and sat down on the couch.

Garth looked back at the tree and back at Kal. "I've been meaning to ask you, why is there a tree in the living room with decorations and lights on it?"

Clark was taken aback and turned and looked at him. "Um, it's a Christmas tree. It's a tradition that dates back to ancient times back when religions viewed evergreens as signs of eternal life. The Christians adopted it, put the star or angel on top to represent the Star of Bethlehem from the Nativity."

Garth nodded. "But all the lights?"

Clark thought back to the moment when he'd asked his own parents about that when he was nearly five years old. "I think they originally were decorated with fruit and candles to represent the ending of winter and the warmth of the sun, eventually they added glass balls, I suppose the fire hazard of having lit candles on a flammable tree eventually led to the string of electrical lights."

"That completely makes sense now, I see." Garth said as he nodded.

"You don't have Christmas trees in your time?" Clark asked.

Garth shook his head. "Well, we don't have trees. Trees exist, just, well, the way we look at all living things is different now. I don't think we would cut them down just for using for decorative purposes. We have holographic displays that look like a tree of lights. Every person individualizes their decorations and designs them to fit their particular faith. It isn't really associated with one religious group anymore. We just call them holiday lights."

Clark blinked. "Are there no trees available to cut?"

Garth shrugged. "I don't know, it's always been that way as far as I know." Garth sat down on the couch next to Clark. "What's the big deal with Christmas anyway?"

Clark thought about it for a moment. Knowing that Garth was an alien who grew up on a distant planet from earth would make earth holidays much less meaningful. "Christmas has religious roots, but it's so much more than just that. People that aren't religious celebrate it as well because it's really about getting together with your family and celebrating that."

Garth pondered the response. "You celebrate the family?"

"Well," Clark started, "the fact that you and the family are together. Family togetherness, kindness towards your fellow man, goodwill, all the good qualities that embody who we are. Being connected to each other. Of all holidays, Christmas tends to be the one where people reconnect with one another, they put their problems aside for the greater good."

Garth nodded and then raised his eyebrows. "I still don't get it."

Clark sighed. "It's a magical time of year. The time together with the family and family can be who you keep close in your life, for you maybe it's all of you in the Legion together?" Clark thought about it some more. "Sometimes there's even Christmas miracles which are the most magical things of all."

"Really? What's a Christmas miracle?" Garth's eyes grew large with curiosity.

"A Christmas miracle is when something so unbelievable happens, that no one expects it." Clark smiled. "It can only be attributed to the power of Christmas. I met the Santa Claus, the real one before. That was a Christmas miracle."

"Wow. I know Santa, he gives presents and eats cookies!" Garth beamed. "So what else is new with you, Kal?"

Clark laughed for a moment at Garth's enthusiasm but then cleared his face. It was time to get serious and level with Garth about everything that had happened since he'd last seen him. Clark sighed thinking about everything he'd experienced, lost and gained.

"Well," Clark began, "Rokk came back to warn me I was going to die if I fought Doomsday, I managed to survive that, but Jimmy was killed, Lois managed to disappear for several weeks, I withdrew and started my training, left The Daily Planet, started wearing my family crest with my new outfit, so I'm just known as The Blur now, and ended up saving Lois, fighting with a Kryptonian, finding out there's a whole group of Kryptonians from Kandor trying to restart their powers, went back to work at The Daily Planet, got to see my biological father briefly as he died in my arms, and I had to quash two young fans from impersonating me as The Blur." He stopped for a moment thinking how unreal his life seemed, almost as if lifted directly from the pages of Warrior Angel.

"I was kind of wondering what Lois Lane was doing at your house?" Garth interrupted.

Clark turned and looked at him. "Oh. She's my girlfriend now."

Garth beamed at him and his mouth dropped open. "Really?"

Clark nodded. "Sort of. Lois doesn't really like putting a label on it yet. We're officially dating but no official titles have been placed. But I still think of her as my girlfriend because I'm not dating any other girls and she's not dating any other guys and she's starting to leave more clothes and stuff over here at the farm. And she's got her shampoo and conditioner and a toothbrush over here, which is nesting type behavior." He stopped as he stared at Garth's confused, glazed over expression.

"Why?" Clark asked Garth. Why would Garth be in such disbelief if the first time they met, he boasted he knew everything about him? "What aren't you telling me?"

Garth sucked in a breath and turned away from Clark. "Nothing, it was just my imagination."

"Garth?" Clark asked again a little more firmly.

Garth sighed. "I can't, it would go against Legion code if I said anything."

"You know what I think you can do with that code of yours," Clark decided to opt for a little bit of intimidation and let his eyes glow red for a moment.

"You wouldn't." Clark's eyes continued to flare at Garth. "Preserve life at all costs, Kal?"

"Conceivably, there's another version of you floating around in the future should you perish here in the past." Clark knew he was pushing the line greatly, but if Lois' life was in danger he needed to know.

"It's just there's no record of you two being together at this point of your lives," Garth admitted quickly. "But holy sprock, it's totally cool."

Clark stared at Garth. "That's it? Nothing menacing or dangerous to report?"

"No." Garth shook his head. "Lois Lane and Clark Kent, you two are well known, history about your early relationship was vague though, so conceivably you two could have gotten together earlier than the holofiles indicate."

"Did you mention any of this to Lois?" Clark asked.

"I," Garth hesitated for a moment as he thought it over. Clark eyed him closely, making him nervous. "No. I don't think so. Probably not."

"What did you tell her?" Clark asked.

"She did say I was talking in my sleep?" Garth asked nervously.

Clark stared at him solemnly.

Garth threw up his hands. "I've broken so many rules. They're going to kill me if I ever get back."

"Garth!" Clark yelled, snapping Garth out of his lamenting.

"I could have mentioned she was really cool and I could totally see why you are totally in love with a girl like her." Garth closed his eyes. "Please don't kill me, I tried to say 'why you would want to be with a girl like her for the rest of your life.' I don't think that helped though and she left the house after I said that."

Clark's mouth had dropped at that point. Of all the things Garth could have said to Lois, spilling his secret, revealing his powers to Lois, and Garth had to be the one to tell her he was in love with her first? Clark shook his head.

"Please don't kill me, Kal. I realize I messed up, but I can fix this, just give me the chance to explain to her that I exaggerate and lie." Garth grabbed Clark's arms, and let go of them when he realized how large his muscles were and leaned back against the other end of the couch, cowering.

"No, that's fine." He laughed for a moment. "Lois said this whole, she wanted to take things slow at first, we haven't said it to each other, we express it for sure with one another. But the idea of saying it out loud to her, it needs to be right."

"What's so hard about saying it to someone?" Garth asked, genuinely curious.

"Have you ever said it to someone before?" Clark asked.

Garth shook his head.

"When you three were here a year ago, Lana had showed up. Through most of high school, I was focused completely on Lana and how much I loved her and wanted her. Only I'd pull away and not tell her I loved her, when she was saying it to me and then when I was saying it to her she wouldn't be saying it to me. Our timing was always off, among other things. And when she showed up last year, I didn't know how I felt about her. I loved her, but I wasn't in love with her enough to sacrifice Metropolis to be with her." He stopped to remember that moment where without any hesitation he knew he had to let her go. "When the dust settled it was Lois that taught me how to love, really love someone, she taught me how much I needed her, just to be around her."

"I know the feeling," Garth said with a sigh.

"Huh? Did you fall for Lois?" Clark asked with a little alarm in his voice.

"No. No. No." Garth said shaking his head. "Well, no." He thought about it for half a second. Superman's girlfriend and Garth, what if she was known as Lightning Lad's girlfriend. No that sounded utterly ridiculous. "Not really. I mean, Lois Lane is amazing and if you and she weren't dating, but I would never. It's someone else."

Clark stared at him. "Imra?"

"Am I that easy to read?" Garth asked puzzled.

"Somewhat." Clark said with a grin.

"Lois was right, I have to develop this poker face she spoke about." Garth sighed.

Clark laughed. "Well, it wasn't easy with her. I've let her down, missed dates, and just been kind of aloof with her at times before I started to think about the possibility of letting someone back into my heart."

"Back into your heart?" Garth asked.

"After Lana left the last time, the notion of ever letting someone in and allowing them to get close enough to me to hurt me again when they left me behind or left entirely or were killed was too painful." Clark thought back to the moment after the fight with Doomsday and searching the globe for any signs of Lois. "It's just when she wasn't around anymore and I didn't know if she was alive or not, I had to admit to myself I'd already let her into my heart and needed that in my life."

"So you found her and everything was 'happily ever after'?" Garth asked enthusiastically.

"No." Clark said with a laugh. "It took a while, it took nearly losing her again to realize that I really loved her and couldn't not have her in my life. Only then I screwed up again and had to try and make it up to her."

"Make it up?" Garth asked, curious that the Man of Steel himself screwed up things, he didn't

Clark shrugged. "I had to audition for a TV show with her, it got complicated, they made us go on dates with other people. Lois ended up going out with her ex-boyfriend and at the end of the evening I thought they were reconnecting." He thought about that moment on the edge of the building standing there and watching her embrace Oliver. "I even got it into my head that if I loved her, I had to let her go."

"Really? You were willing to let her go? You were willing to let Lois Lane walk out of your life?" Garth shook his head in disbelief.

Clark sighed. "Not my finest hour, I know. When I got back into the office to try and talk to her, she was standing there in the room, looking at a press photo, the sun was coming in and I just stopped and looked at her for a moment."

"And then?" Garth asked but demanded rather impatiently. Patience had never been one of his virtues and Rokk constantly was on his case for jumping into things rather recklessly.

"She started apologizing about dragging me to the audition and getting me involved in the first place and I kept trying to get a word in edge wise and she was rambling, and it was all I could do not just blurt out my feelings right there, and the next thing I knew I had planted a kiss on her." Clark blinked remembering the feel of her lips against his, the shock her body had displayed at first. And then that moment where she'd started kissing him back, passionately and holding her against him.

"Wow," Garth said quietly.

Clark laughed. "It was wow. Very wow."

"And that was it?" Garth asked with a smile.

"No." Clark frowned. "After that, she pulled out of my arms and left town for two weeks and sort of avoided me, ignored my calls and messages and texts. Happily ever after is something for the fairy tales. It's apparently a lot harder to find that here in the real world."

"But why?" Garth asked. "She feels the same way about you, right?"

"Lois," Clark started, "she's different. Normally, anything that would prove to be a challenge would be intriguing and interesting to her. But the idea of really opening up to someone, being completely honest and letting her guard down, that's scary."

"But don't you do the same since you keep your secrets?" Garth asked.

"Yeah." Clark thought it over. "I am the same, opening up that part of my life to someone is terrifying. I mean I know she'll accept it, she knows there's some mystery now that I don't talk about, but she never asks about it."

"Then why?" Garth asked.

Clark turned away and looked out the window, a light snowfall was coming down. "I just really enjoy it being about us for the moment. Nothing to complicate it like secrets, destiny, my responsibilities to humanity and apparently now most of the known galaxies and I really love having those moments together. I know they won't end when I tell her everything. It's just," Clark stopped and weighed things over in his mind. "I don't want her to feel like she's going to be keeping me from doing those other things. I mean she literally was willing to let herself fall from The Daily Planet building in order to protect my secret."

"What!?" Garth was shocked. "Wait, she doesn't or does know the secret."

"She doesn't right now. But someone who's willing to go that far to protect what they think is your secret, that my destiny is somehow more important than hers. I just don't want to complicate things with all of that. I just need her, you know?" Clark asked Garth.

Garth nodded. "Her destiny is just as important as yours. You'll know when you want to tell her that, the big one."

Clark shook his head hearing those words again. "Part of me, thinks that if I tell her I love her too soon she'll bolt, like she did when I first kissed her." Clark sighed. "Silly, I know. Part of me just wants her to love me as someone normal, without all the abilities, to just have her see me as me. I need that."

"But Kal, she came back didn't she?" Garth said smiling. "And she's your girlfriend now."

Clark gave him a funny look. "Well, yeah, sort of. We're not allowed to label it yet."

"The good ones never run far." Garth beamed at Clark. "Do you want my advice?"

"You have to remember not to call me Kal around Lois and if I said no to the advice, would it stop you from telling me?" Clark asked with a grin.

Garth shook his head. "No, it wouldn't. I think when the time is right you'll know that too. If there's one thing you'll be known for in the future, it's having impeccably good timing, always swooping in to save the day." Garth thought about it for a moment. "How's the flying coming along anyway?"

"Slowly," Clark admitted. "I can hover a little, and I'm working on my fear of falling."

"That's good, you'll get it someday soon, I'm sure." Garth said and patted Kal's massively large shoulder. He thought for a moment. "Someone once said 'you're only falling if you don't land on your feet.'"

Clark gave him a quizzical look. "Who said that?"

Garth smiled. "You do. In the future but I can't say more with the Legion code."

"I have the feeling with a girlfriend who has a knack for getting herself into dangerous situations, I'm going to need that ability soon and get over falling." Clark said looking off.

"Oh definitely." Garth said as the two chuckled. Garth recalled Lois' own writings documenting many of her miraculous saves at the hands of Superman. Not to mention the first save that prompted her to name him Superman. Garth sighed. Rokk would be so jealous if he knew Garth got to meet Lois Lane.

Clark smiled recalling soaring over buildings, holding Lois and wondered what it would be like to dance with her up in the stars.

**_[A/N Thanks for reading and reviewing :) Next chapter will feature our three characters interacting together.]_**


	8. Chapter 8

**ACT V**  
_Chapter 8 - Hearth_

Clark walked into house, he could hear the TV on again and Lois and Garth talking to one another. He'd had to leave Garth alone again so he could save someone in Metropolis. Garth had been way too excited to see him in his new Blur uniform.

After preventing two armed robberies and a break-in, he was finally home. He'd texted Lois to let her know he was picking up dinner on his way back. He x-rayed the living room and saw the two of them talking with one another like old friends.

"Garth, it was complicated, those memory lapses I was getting. When I kissed him back, I saw a rush of memories and some of those things were stuff I did not want to see," Lois' voice grew silent.

"Hey!" Clark said as he shut the kitchen door. "I've got the food. Fried rice, walnut prawns, ginger scallion crab and general's chicken. Only not the General Lane's chicken, since we've never had his chicken."

Lois came running into the kitchen and took the bag from Clark and set it on the table poking her head inside it. She gave Clark an expectant look filled with anxiety.

He gave her a look as if he'd goofed up and he grabbed his brow.

Lois let out a defeated whine and gave Clark her best pouty face.

He smiled. Sometimes she was just too easy. "Oh, I asked the owner to do the chow mein with the homemade noodles again that you like Lois."

She pumped her fist in triumph and began to pull the containers out of the bag. "With the chicken and fermented, salty, black beans like David Yu recommended?"

"Yes," Clark said as he got plates out of the cabinet, with his back turned to Lois he used his heat vision to warm them up for serving. David Yu had become Lois' Chinatown contact and she had begun to take note of everything he said in regards to authentic Chinese food. Lois had insisted that they branch out from the usual sweet and sour pork order and try some of the chef's specials he'd recommended. After Clark had gotten over his initial jealousy at Lois listening so attentively to another guy, he had to admit all of David's recommendations had been delicious.

Clark set the plates down on the table. "Careful, they're warm."

Lois beamed at him. "Perfect, Smallville, that way the noodles won't stick to the cold plate."

Garth walked into the kitchen and stared at all the containers and boxes. "Smells good." He and Clark exchanged a glance and nodded at one another.

"Some of our favorite dishes," Lois said as she invited Garth to join her at the counter. As she began to spoon out prawns, noodles, crab and fried rice onto the plate a wicked grin formed across her face. "So, Garth was telling me earlier about this girl he likes."

Garth nearly dropped his chopsticks at looked at Lois in shock. She wouldn't he thought, but almost as if in response to Garth's look of shocked terror, she playfully raised both eyebrows at him and grinned.

"Lois, I'm sure Garth doesn't want to talk about this in front of me," Clark said as he grabbed a couple beers from the fridge.

"Thank you," Garth said trying to hide his terrified nervous energy that was starting to surface with the thought Kal would know everything. "Not that your advice wouldn't be good, it's just."

Garth was cut off by Clark again as he turned to Lois and swept her up in his arms mid-bite with the thick homemade noodles dangling out her mouth. "Guys just don't talk to each other about stuff like that." He kissed her lightly and bit off the end of one of her noodles.

Lois chewed and swatted him away pointing at his plate that she'd fixed for him and opened the beers and gave one to Garth. "You're legal right, Ron Weasley?"

Garth nodded, "I've just never had a beer before." He took a cautious sip and his mouth puckered at the bitterness he wasn't expecting. "That's," he tried to find polite words to describe the funny taste, "interesting."

Lois snorted. "As interesting as my PB and J I made for you earlier?"

Garth looked down guiltily and Lois punched his arm lightly. "Relax, Garth, I'm just teasing, but we're talking about your feelings though sometime tonight. You know, if you stand on the sidelines, Imra will have no idea you like her."

Garth nearly spat out the prawn he'd bitten into. "Oh thanks. Now everyone knows."

"I'm sure it's not a secret," Lois teased.

"I had no idea." Clark said as he picked up his chopsticks and sat down next to Lois.

"Smallville, you rarely do. I mean I was sending up signal flares and dropping glacier sized clues and you weren't picking up on any of them," Lois said with her voice full of some agitation.

Garth laughed at Kal as he took a bite of chicken.

Clark glared at Garth a moment. "Well, maybe you were, but you were saying different things, you did say to table the office romance."

Lois gulped her beer and threw her hands up. "What the hell, Smallville? Was I supposed to wear a sandwich board that said 'Kiss me already'?"

Clark thought carefully. "That could have helped."

"You're terrible, Smallville." Lois punched his shoulder.

Garth noticed Kal pull back as she punched him and smiled to himself. The Man of Steel ever diligently avoiding suspicion by wincing to pretend her punch hurt him also seemed to work as well. Garth observed Lois playful smile as she bit into a prawn and raised an eyebrow at Kal and Kal returned her expression by giving her a mock shocked expression of his own.

Clark turned towards Garth and smiled. "Garth, just don't let life pass you by and not at least go for what," he stopped for a moment and looked at Lois nibbling one of the oranges from the walnut prawn dish and smiled. "Or who you want."

"Mmmmmm," Lois moaned as she took another bite of prawn. "I swear it's the little infusion of orange into this dish that makes it so special. That and the lightness of the batter they use for the prawns. If I had one last meal on earth it would definitely be this dish."

The rest of the meal went by in a blur as the three of them talked and ate and drank together. Garth had to admit to himself that it was some of the best food he had eaten, although there was the fact that he hadn't eaten any dinner in the last two or three days. He finished the last of the noodles on his plate smiled, fully satiated.

Clark started to clear the plates and Lois produced three odd shaped objects. She placed one at Clark's place setting, one at Garth's and grasped the last one.

Garth looked down at the object, it was an odd shape, bent and folded over itself, wrapped in cellophane. He picked it up and stared at it while Lois looked at him with an amused expression on her face.

"Really, Ron?" She asked with a twinkle in her eye.

Garth turned the little package over in his hands. "What is it, Lois?"

Lois shook her head in disbelief and explained, "It's a fortune cookie. Just a little dessert thing that people wanted at the end of Chinese meals. You open it up and there's some kind of fortune inside, written on paper, one side the fortune, sometimes the other side has lottery numbers."

"Oh." Garth watched as Lois opened the cellophane and broke the cookie in half and pulled her fortune out. She read the fortune and grinned.

"Good fortune, Lo?" Clark asked as he sat back down and proceeded to open his fortune cookie.

"Um hmm," Lois said with a grin. "And very true as usual."

Garth copied their movements and cracked his cookie in half. He turned the little piece of paper over and read his fortune out loud. "Luck will be yours when you least expect it."

"Oh," Lois exclaimed. "That's a good one, Garth."

Clark was frowning as he read his fortune. "That's vague enough to be true whenever good luck strikes."

"Smallville," Lois warned raising her eyebrow. "Don't ruin your cousin's first fortune with logic."

Clark raised his eyebrows and sighed. "What did yours say anyway, Lois?"

"Mine," Lois began as she grew more excited, "said 'Soon you will be getting the recognition you deserve.' Which is very true after I break this new Intergang and the Chinese triad connection story."

"I thought Randall said to put that one on hold?" Clark asked with concern.

"He did," Lois said with a smile. "But since when do I listen to authority figures?"

"Never!" Garth said with a laugh.

"That's right," Lois said and the two high fived each other.

"Garth," Clark said in a low growl. "Don't encourage her to risk her life over her stories."

Garth looked apologetically at Kal and nodded guiltily. "Sorry. But it's what she does? She pursues the truth and reports it."

Lois nodded. "That's right. I'm liking Ron Weasley more and more every minute."

"Thank you," Garth said grinning at her.

Clark sighed in frustration. Doubled teamed and defeated, he picked his fortune back up and sighed again. "Well, I didn't even get a proper fortune. It's not even a fortune really, just stupid advice."

"Really?" Lois asked and looked at the fortune. "What does it say?"

Clark sighed again and looked at Garth. "Be willing to admit that you may be wrong. You're only human."

Garth and Lois both started laughing. Both laughing at his fortune for their own particular reasons and Clark couldn't help but grin at their laughter.

"See?" Lois said pointing. "Even the fortune knows you're wrong!" She laughed even harder and Clark smiled at her.

"But that fortune is wrong!" Garth said laughing harder. "He's not even human," he laughed.

Clark turned to him and raised his eyebrows and Garth stopped laughing abruptly.

Lois stared at both of them curious at the exchange.

"I mean, sometimes he acts like he's from another planet?" Garth's statement felt more like a question as he looked at Clark cautiously. Clark got up and walked back into the kitchen.

"Sometimes Smallville tends to put the weight of the world on his shoulders," Lois said as she thought about the newest memory she'd gotten back. Clark had tried to offer his life instead of hers when faced with her execution. "He's got the biggest heart I know, maybe it's larger than most peoples'." She got up to clear the bottles from the table and Garth stared at her fondly as she walked away.

_**[A/N Thanks to those who've taken the time to review. Any feedback is appreciated.]**_


	9. Chapter 9

_Chapter 9 - Giving_

The three of them sat on the floor of the living room around the lit Christmas tree. Lois was eagerly staring at Garth who seemed to be confused by the entire situation.

"I don't understand," Garth said as he scratched his head. "Christmas is over right?"

"Well, yeah, technically yes," Lois said as she rocked back and forth eagerly. "But I wanted to give you a real Christmas since you missed ours."

Clark cleared his throat.

"Right, we wanted," Lois corrected herself. Clark had agreed to the idea of giving Garth a make-up Christmas since Garth had admitted to her that he never had experienced a family style Christmas recently. "We wanted to give you a make-up Christmas, since you arrived here a little late to join in our Christmas day activities." He made a mental note to finally put out the tree, it had been drinking lots of water and had only recently started to drop it's needles.

"How can you have a Christmas after the fact though? I really don't understand that?" Garth asked.

"It's more like, we're celebrating the spirit of Christmas, Garth. The spirit of giving, the time of family togetherness." Clark said as he smiled at Garth.

"And presents!" Lois added as she grabbed the two presents that Clark and her had wrapped up for Garth. The two men stared at her with a similar puzzled expression on their faces. "What? I like presents."

She sat back down and took a deep breath. "Here's mine first," she said as she handed Garth his gift.

Garth picked it up and turned it over in his hands and found where the package was taped together. He tore it open and turned it over staring at it.

"What is it?" Garth asked.

"Only the most awesome present in the world," Lois said in all seriousness.

Garth sucked in a breath and held it.

Lois waited, allowing Garth's anticipation to build.

Clark rolled his eyes.

"It's a mix CD, so you'll have something to seduce Imra with," Lois said with a wink.

"What?" Clark said surprised.

Garth gave Lois a pleading look as if to prevent her from telling Clark what they'd talked about earlier.

Garth turned to Clark. "Things with Imra are complicated, but Lois thinks I should just go for it. Like you did finally with her."

Clark looked Lois who innocently shrugged at him. "You were gone a long time today," Lois said with a sigh. "Things came up."

"Oh," Clark ran a hand thru his hair and thought about it for a second. "It's fine. I thought you only made mix CDs for very special people?"

"And Garth isn't special enough?" Lois asked and punched Clark lightly again. "Besides, he needs a musical overhaul. He was happy listening to static."

Garth gave an embarrassed look and caught Clark's eye.

"What kind of music did you put on there for Garth?" Clark asked as he gazed at Lois.

Lois scoffed in disbelief. "Like there's some other band I'm going to put on a mix CD for Garth?"

"Whitesnake?" Garth asked.

Lois high fived Garth and gloated in Clark's general direction as she said, "See? My little  
Padawan is growing up so fast." She sighed contently. "You only hope you guide them away from the dark side of the force. It's up to them to embrace the Whitesnake of the force."

Garth beamed proudly at Lois as Clark threw his hands up. "Garth, while Whitesnake is Lois' favorite music, there's other bands out there worth listening to as well."

"Well," Garth loked at Lois again for reassurance and she nodded at him. "If it isn't Whitesnake, it doesn't Rokk." He looked over at Clark. "I still don't understand what Rokk has to do with any of it though." He shook his head and then seemed to remember something. "Lois?"

"Hmmm?" Lois said as she gloated in her victory in converting another young soul over to Whitesnake.

"Did you put that one song on there?" Garth asked as he tilted his head and glanced at her.

Lois sighed. "But that song has nothing to do with rock."

"I really liked the beat though," Garth said as he sheepishly brushed the hair out of his face.

Lois sighed. "You can teach them so well but they're still drawn to the dark side." She shook her head as Clark looked at her curiously. "Track fifteen." Lois pulled Garth to his feet and took the CD from him and put it into the stereo system. "If you insist on it, then you have to dance for it, Garth." She raised her left eyebrow, challenging him.

Garth looked helplessly at Clark.

"No, no, no," Lois said as she grabbed his head and turned him back towards her. "He can't help you now." She turned around and smiled wickedly at Clark. "Besides, Smallville, Garth needs to give us our gift. Like a family talent show in the old days, he can dance for it."

"Lois?" Clark asked with an embarrassed look on his face. "My mom told you about the talent shows Pete and I put on?" They'd done a few of those shows when they were little only in their underwear he thought to himself in horror.

Lois gave him a wicked grin at him and before he could respond she raised her hand to him, beckoning him to be quiet. Clark studied both of them. While Garth appeared to look nervous at first glance, he also seemed to be excited.

Garth unzipped his jacket and threw it down on the couch. He stretched his pale arms and looked over Lois, gazing up and down at her and finally back to her face. "Well, if I have to dance, I need a partner don't I?"

Lois shook her head. "There's no part that requires that. The best dancers were always soloists. Heck, Michael Jackson was a solo act?"

Garth gave her a firm stare and Clark laughed as he watched Lois adamantly shake her head no again.

"Michael always had backup dancers, Lois," Clark interjected as Lois glared at him.

Garth glanced over at the CD player and the music kicked on as Lois looked over at the CD player suspiciously as it had turned on due to its own accord. Garth didn't give her a moment to really think as he grabbed her arm and started pulling her towards him in rhythm to the beat of the song.

"It's coming up," Garth mimed along with the singer. "It's coming up," he said out loud as he took a step filled with confidence towards Lois. "It's coming up, it's coming up," as the last words were out of his mouth he pulled her flush against him surprising Lois, who let out a little gasp. "It's DARE!" Garth exclaimed along with the singer.

Lois gasped in mock horror and moaned and almost gasped the word, "Oh," in synch with the female voice in the song.

Garth and Lois began to rhythmically move with beat, their bodies grinding to the fast pace of the song. Clark wasn't thrilled to see Lois dancing with Garth like that, but was enjoying the grin on everyone's faces as the music continued to thump. Garth's body moved well with the music as his body shook in rhythm with the beat and his hands danced over Lois' undulating body as she turned around to shake her backside against Garth.

The last gesture drew a frown from Clark, but he remained passive, watching the oddly beautiful dance. Lois had only had two beers with dinner and he'd never seen her cut loose like this without a little more hard alcohol involved for courage. She was definitely proving to be full of surprises.

"It's DARE!" Garth yelled mid grind as he went low, bending his knees, letting Lois rise up and wave her arm in the air singing, "eeeeeewwwwwwwhhhhhhhh." Their hips moved back and forth in unison and Lois' body slid across Garth's as she moved behind him, letting him dance lower and leaning back towards her. Lois began to sing along with the female voice again, "You've got to press it on you." Emphasizing the word press, she pressed Garth back against her hard and he stopped for a moment to look at her but Lois gave him an encouraging glance and they continued.

"You just think it. That's what you do baby," Lois sang as her hands danced across Garth's chest and the two started moving their bodies in opposite directions to the song. She began to push Garth's head lower with the next line, "Hold it down DARE."

Clark chuckled as Garth reacted to being pushed so far down.

"Jump," Lois sang and both she and Garth jumped at the same time and resumed their gyrations, "with them all and move it." They looked at each other again and repeated the, "Jump," this time though jumping forwards and back as she sang, "back and forth." They continued moving and Lois threw her arms up again and moved her hips almost like a hula dancer. "And feel like you were there yourself. Work it out."

Garth rose at this point and let his eyes roll back and imitated the male moaning in the song and then sang, "Never did no harm." Lois resumed her "eeeewwwwwhhhh," singing in the background as Garth repeated, "Never did no harm."

Garth raised his hand in triumph as the male voice sang, "It's DARE!" He immediately crouched down and Lois waved her hands over him like a witch conjuring up a spell.

With each line of "it's coming up," Garth began to slowly rise until he yelled in synch with the singer, "It's DARE!"

Clark found himself grinning as Garth and Lois repeated their moves thru the remainder of the song. Lois continued taking the female part and imitated the moans within the song like a seasoned veteran singer.

When they'd finished their song, bodies pressed against each other, arms thrown back, Clark couldn't help but applaud. The effort and execution had been enthusiastic and actually surprisingly well done for minimal choreography.

Clark laughed as he applauded and exclaimed, "I must have really been gone a long time for you two to work out all that choreography?"

"Well, when that beat starts, your ass tends to have a mind of its own," Lois quipped as Clark's face registered the shock of the word ass. Lois grinned at Garth, who in turn was beaming at her. "Garth is definitely a quick study."

She turned around to face Clark and said, "Garth really wanted to hear something that was influenced by a lot of different genres. He managed to catch one of Gorillaz songs on TV and pressed me until I played it for him. One pass and he was already up and dancing."

Garth nodded enthusiastically. "There's something about a thumping beat that makes me want to move."

"For the record, Smallville, you can't tell any family or friends that I actually enjoy the fusion sounds of Gorillaz' rock, electronic, hip hop, I will be digging out a certain unnamed nightlight." Lois gave Clark a stern look to emphasize her point.

"Duly noted, sailor," Clark said with a grin.

Lois gave him another stern look that wiped the smile off his face. He blinked twice in acknowledgement.

"Well, that leads me to my gift," Clark said and looked at Garth.

Garth smiled widely and looked at Kal. "I still don't understand this holiday, but getting presents is a welcomed tradition."

Clark nodded. "Christmas is more than just gifts though Garth. It's really about family and togetherness. The time of miracles, when the impossible becomes possible."

Garth sighed dreamily.

Lois groaned. "Enough with the build-up, Smallville, where's the beef? Put up or shut up!" She smiled again at Clark who returned her smile.

Her impatience quite endearing to him, Clark turned back to Garth. "What's the one thing in the world you want Garth?"

Garth thought it over for a moment. "The opportunity to make things right, back home. To be home."

Clark nodded. "Close your eyes, Garth."

Garth obeyed.

"You always have to show up everyone else with the theatrics, Smallville," Lois' voice cut through Garth's head as he squeezed his eyes shut.

"Okay, you can open them now," Clark said.

Garth realized something was in his hand now. He opened his eyes and looked down. His heart jumped a little as he tried to swallow.

"Thank you," Garth managed to whisper as he wiped away a tear. "This is indeed a Christmas miracle."

Before Clark could realize what was going on, Garth had wrapped his arms around him and squeezed him tight. "Thank you, Kal," he whispered again.

Lois, who had managed to not see what Clark had slipped into Garth's hand was thoroughly confused. "What did you give Garth?"

Garth smiled at Lois as he released Clark.

Clark looked over at Lois as well and she stared at him. "Just a ticket back home."

"That's so thoughtful, but it's not anything tangible that he can remember you by or have as a treasured gift later," Lois reminded Clark.

"He's given me more than enough," Garth said.

"Nonsense. Clark must have something here that you want? Something rare, unique that you just can't find back home?" Lois suggested.

Clark's face contorted in irritation as he imagined Garth saying he wanted Lois Lane. That would be a little awkward. "Lois?"

Garth spoke up. "There is one thing actually. Clark?"

Clark stared at him. "What?"

Garth took a breath and looked down at his feet for a moment before staring back at Clark. He shook his head from side to side for a moment, looked up at the ceiling and then finally spoke. "Well, there is the t-shirt of yours?"

Clark was puzzled. "T-shirt?"

Garth nodded. "Earlier today."

"What?" Clark asked confused where Garth was going with this.

"The one you were wearing," Garth stated.

Clark shrugged at him.

"Your Blur t-shirt," Garth said with a childish smile. "Do you think I could have it?"

Clark's face sunk and he looked over at Lois who was grinning wildly.  
"Smallville has a Blur t-shirt?" Lois asked as she put her hands on her hips.

"No," Clark shook his head. "No, I don't have a Blur shirt."

Garth winked at Clark. "Yes you do. You're wearing it now."

Clark's face fell to the floor.

"Oh really?" Lois asked with a laugh. "Someone's been a closet Blur fan?"

"Do you think I could have it?" Garth asked sheepishly again.

Clark let out a sigh and unbuttoned his shirt, revealing the black t-shirt with the S shield underneath it.

Lois' head was tilted at a weird angle as she watched him taking the dress shirt off. She shook her head a moment trying to clear the images that entered her mind.

Clark shrugged at her and then looked back over at Garth and took his shirt off.

An audible gasp seem escape both Garth's and Lois' lips as they looked at his torso. Clark slipped the dress shirt on and buttoned it up quickly and tossed the black t-shirt to Garth.

Garth beamed at Clark and then looked down at the shirt. "That's so awesome. No one has ever seen a Blur shirt back home."

"You'll be the talk of the neighborhood then," Clark said with some irritation.

"Be nice, Smallville," Lois scolded him. "You can get a new one right outside of the Daily Planet."

"I can't believe you literally asked me for the shirt off my own back, Garth." Clark shook his head.

Garth smiled though as he had carefully folded the shirt and held it close to his chest.

"Rokk and Imra won't believe it," Garth said with a smile. "Thank you. Thank you both. For everything."

"You're welcome," Lois reciprocated. Clark's jaws clenching and unclenching prompted her to elbow him in the ribs.

Clark reluctantly added, "You're welcome. Have a safe trip home."

Garth nodded. "That ticket is for now, so I'll just get going then?"

Clark nodded and looked over at Lois. "I'll give him a ride."  
Lois nodded. "It was wonderful having you as a guest and a patient here, Garth. Come back anytime."

Garth hugged her. "Thank you, Lois."

Lois hugged him back. "Anytime, Garth."

Garth smiled at her. "Party on, Lane."

"Party on, Garth," Lois said as kissed him lightly on the forehead. "Go on now, Garth. Get yourself back to your future."

Garth and Clark both gave her a puzzled stare as they left the house.

_**[A/N Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Thanks for reading and again, any reviews, comments or feedback are appreciated.]**_


	10. Chapter 10

_Chapter 10 – Legion_

Garth took a breath and prepared to open his eyes. It was the one thing he continually did when travelling through time. The flash of light that proceeded the energy burst had always caused him to squeeze his eyes shut just before the temporal displacement took place. Rokk, had assured him on more than one occasion that his fear of being blinded was completely unfounded.

Garth had always assured Rokk it was because he enjoyed having his auditory senses stimulated before seeing his surroundings, but both men knew Garth was terrified he'd disappear like Garth's brother. Garth was tired of living in fear.

The sounds of a city sleeping whirled around him. He blinked twice. New Metropolis. He was home. The cleaner air, more rich in oxygen was the first indicator. But the large L on the front of the building he was standing in front of was the second indicator.

The building security sensors scanned his presence and identified him and let him in. The lobby area of the building was abandoned at this late of an hour. He stepped to the elevator and walked into the open doors.

"Living quarters," he said.

The doors shut and the elevator car climbed the eight stories in nanoseconds and he stepped out of the open doors.

Secretly he had to admit, he'd been disappointed there was no welcome home banners or any of his friends in the Legion there to greet him. He had mysteriously disappeared from battle, transported thru time, without a time ring. Surely they would have at least been worried about him a little bit. He wasn't going to announce his return, they could see him in the morning when they awoke.

He was absently thinking to himself as he walked into his room and the door shut behind him. He took off his jacket, hung it in the closet, then stared at the t-shirt Kal had given him. Superman's uniform before he becomes Superman. He smiled to himself when he thought about what he wanted to do with it. He took the CD Lois Lane had made for him and stared at it, thinking over the memories of her. Kal was indeed a lucky man. He'd open up soon enough. It didn't hurt that they were both crazy about each other.  
His own life seemed much more complicated. The person he wanted to be with was not exactly the easiest to talk to. And did she even want to really talk to him. He was lost in his own thoughts as his door opened.

"Imra?" He asked as she stared at him in disbelief.

She walked towards him and put her hand to his cheek and closed her eyes. Garth felt the gentle intrusion of her psychic powers as she filtered thru his thoughts for a moment.

"It's really you?" She asked in disbelief. "What happened?"

"I'm not really sure. Just that I ended up in 2010." He said.

"I put a protective field around you, I saw what you were planning to do from your thoughts." Imra took her hand from his face and took a breath. "Tharok and Mano seemed to hit the field at the same time. There was a blast of energy and you were gone."

Garth blinked twice. Imra bit her lower lip.

She released her lip and continued, "There was no time to think about that in the middle of the fight though. The Fatal Five kept pushing us back."

"You won though?" Garth asked.

Imra nodded. "Ultra Boy managed to attack the Emerald Empress and wounded her. She teleported the rest of the group away though, so we're bound to see them again in the future."

"Great, Ultra Boy, with his Ultra vision and ultra strength and ultra coolness," Garth said rolling his eyes. Garth had to admit he loved how Lois Lane used her eyes to accentuate her sarcasm.

Imra studied Garth's face.

"Whoever sent you thru time knew what they were doing," she said with concern. "I managed to pick up their name, but we could not locate them."

"Who sent me to the past?" Garth asked.

"His name was the Time Trapper." Imra swallowed. "He was full of anger and hatred. He wanted to trap you in the past because of something that happens between you two in the future."

"Well, I guess that's something to look forward to then," Garth said and turned his back to Imra.

_I was so worried. I thought you had died for me. I thought he had killed you_.

Garth spun back around hearing Imra's thoughts in his head.

"You thought I was dead?" Garth asked.

Imra nodded. "I feared the worst. Brainy had to scan the energy signatures twelve billion times before he was able to filter out the Time Trapper. He was operating on a different frequency plane and we couldn't see him or sense him."

"I'm sure we'll run into him again soon," Garth said and looked down.

Imra lifted his face back up to stare into his eyes again.

"You met Lois Lane and Kal?" She asked curiously. "What were they like together?"

"It was," Garth thought about it all for a moment. "It was truly educational. She was lovely, they had only just recently started dating. Kal hasn't revealed who he is yet and he's still in the shadows as The Blur. But it was all there. Both of them willing to die for one another, their connection so intense."

He took a step closer to Imra and she sucked in a breath.

"It really put things in perspective for me," Garth said as he stood face to face with Imra. "I don't know what's going on between us, but when I was back in the past, getting back to you seemed to be my greatest thought."

Imra stood still and swallowed staring at Garth. She waited nervously.

"I don't want life to pass us by anymore," Garth said as he pulled Imra close, almost surprised at the way she yielded to his arms. "I want you," Garth whispered as he leaned in and wrapped his lips around hers and kissed her softly. Imra's lips opened against his and the two explored each other's mouths for the first time.

After what seemed an eternity their mouths separated, Imra's eyes, which had been shut, fluttered open and she looked up into Garth's face smiling.

"What was that?" She asked in a breathy whisper.

Garth smiled. "Something that was long overdue, and inspired by a Christmas miracle," Garth said as he thought of his two friends helping give him the strength and courage to move forward to this moment. "Yes, it's scary. It's terrifying. We might not get it absolutely right. But I'm here with you and I want to be with you. And I don't want to waste anymore time regretting not saying something."

Imra beamed a radiant smile at him. "Garth Ranzz," she began smiling at him. "It certainly took you long enough."

The two kissed again exploring each other. When they broke away, Imra looked at him and smiled and laughed.

"What is it?" Garth asked smiling.

"She was right," Imra said with a wicked grin. "You do have a terrible poker face."

_**[A/N Thanks for reading. Only one chapter left. Yep, only one more. Hope you enjoyed the glimpse of the future, and please review if you can.]**_


	11. Chapter 11

_Chapter 11 - Teasing_

Lois walked in and looked about the room. The only annoying thing about having mysterious secret contacts was that you never knew when those contacts would be available to meet. She had been called away shortly after Clark had left and had hastily written him a note before she left. The meeting had been the introduction she'd been waiting for, her contact, introducing her to the guy on the inside. Of course the meeting hadn't gone as well as planned and the guy on the inside had been ambushed outside the warehouse.

If it hadn't been for The Blur's timely presence they would have all been gunned down. Instead they were all alive, all safe, ready to meet again and investigate this Checkmate organization.

Lois spotted Clark on the couch, eyes closed, the television news playing lightly and Shelby with his head buried on Clark's lap. For a moment she lost herself in the idea that it was really part of her own home. Not yet, she reminded herself. Career first, then the home.

Lois gently lifted Shelby's head from Clark's lap, Shelby letting a minor growl of protest out after being woken from his deep doggy sleep but yielded to Lois and relinquished his place on the couch.

She curled up next to Clark and gently whispered in his ear, "Smallville?"

"I'll catch you," Clark whispered sleepily as his eyes opened with a start and he stared into the hazel eyes of Lois Lane looking down at him.

"Dreaming?" Lois asked with a smile on her face.

Clark nodded. "Yeah," he said as he rubbed his face sleepily and shook his head. "Yeah, it must have just been a dream."

"Well," Lois said as she kissed him lightly and stood up. "You deserve a few days of rest after the last two weeks. It was nice meeting some of your family too."

Clark's face made a puzzled expression.

Lois returned the expression. "Your cousin was sweet, weird and strange and well, really odd. He kept referring to now as the steel age."

Clark nodded. "Yeah, he's weird like that."

Lois laughed. "Weird but sweet. I liked him. Maybe he can come for real Christmas next year and bring his friends Imra and Rock."

Clark shrugged. "Maybe? Oh," Clark said as if remembering something. "How did your story go?"

Lois gave him an exasperated look. "I told you, Smallville, this was just a preliminary contact meet and greet. One contact, who knows me and trusts me introducing me to another contact."

"Well," Clark said, "how did the meet and greet go then?"

Lois hesitated for a moment. If she told him someone tried to ambush them after the meeting he'd just get all super protective with her and try and insist on coming with her the next time and putting himself into harms way.

"It was great," she lied with a smile. "Got a possible contact for this hush hush government group."

Clark looked at her with a funny look on his face. He turned away for a moment and then stared back at her. "Good?" He seemed to ask.

Lois nodded.

"Lois you need to be careful. Taking on secret government groups is not a walk in the park. I wish you'd let me come with you next time," Clark said.

Lois sighed. "I'm always careful. Just sometimes being careful, doesn't agree with the truth that has to be exposed."

"But is the truth," Clark asked rather intensely, "worth your life?"

Lois looked at him. His body was tense. "As a journalist, sometimes all we have is the truth. If we can't speak it, what good is it?" She stared at him and waited for him to respond.

Clark simply looked down. She realized he was conceding the argument.

"You know, speaking of truths, I've been waiting for you to tell me something," She said casually.

"Tell you what?" Clark asked.

"Some truths," Lois said flatly.

Clark hesitated and looked as if he would say something and then seemed to bottle it up again. A thought popped into his head and he seemed to take a deep breath. "You know those fantasies and visions you were having?"

Lois nodded curious.

"Those were memories. They were real memories. You may have had a glimpse of a future that occurred when you weren't around to help stop it." Clark sighed.

Lois looked away. Real memories. The images that Tess had given her were real? An alternate future, thousands of other thoughts whirled through her head. She tried to shake away all the thoughts overwhelming her.

"Well," she started and turned back to Clark. "Um, yeah, I was actually hinting at a certain blond female that you know. She's kind of annoying, perky and annoying. The truth along those lines."

Clark gave her a puzzled expression. "Chloe?"

Lois looked at him. "Really? Chloe? Chloe, my cousin who can bring a heavy dose of reality to most situations, almost like an anvil falling on your head. But I don't think perky would be the verb of choice I'd use to describe her."

"I don't know any other blondes other than Kara?" Clark said.

Lois shook her head. "No, the certain offer you got from a certain blond in a certain little dress that she stole from me?"

Clark shrugged again, "I have no idea who you're talking about. I don't know any blonds and come to think of it, Chloe's not even a natural blond. She told me that once."

"Forget about Chloe, Smallville," Lois said with a sigh. Sometimes he really enjoyed playing dumb. "You're going to play it like that?

Clark threw up his hands. "Play it like what, Lois? I really don't know what you're talking about."

Lois sighed. "A certain, annoying blond, who was giving you offers, offers and she's been trying to lure you away from your job."

Lois stared at him a moment.

Clark's blank expression suddenly changed. Lois smiled as realization dawned upon his face and she raised her eyebrows at him.

Clark's eyes grew wide. "Oh. Oh. Right, I know what you mean now."

"And?" She asked as she crossed her arms. "I've sat on this for a while, and I wasn't about to make a scene with your cousin here. But I think you owe me an explanation, don't you?"

Clark sighed. "Oh, it was nothing that serious, Lois. She just wanted me to help with a holiday show, she thought I'd look cute in a Santa cap."

Lois thought about Clark dressed as Santa, playing with children bouncing on his knee, then thought of herself on his knee, Clark determining whether she'd been naughty or nice and oh my God. She shook her head trying to clear her head of that fantasy. Remain on the offensive, Lane!

"Well, I'm sure you'd look adorable in a Santa cap," Lois said as her voice dripped with annoyance. "But Cat is out of her gourd crazy. Number one, she's crazy if she thinks I'm going to tolerate her calling you, Clarkie. If anyone is going to call you that, it's only me."

Clark laughed and Lois smiled at him in acknowledgment of the scrapped name for Shelby.

Lois' expression grew concerned and she looked at Clark carefully. "Second, if she thinks she's going to lure you away from the Daily Planet, she's insane right?"

Clark grinned. "Well, yeah, it has the best coffee sludge in Metropolis, and I've finally learned to stomach it, and it would be a shame to have to get used to some other office's coffee."

Lois sighed. "But they offered you more money."

"Life isn't about money," Clark said.

"But it was not just more money, it was over ten times what you could make at the Planet in five years." Lois said.

Clark shrugged. "I would be an integral part of the show, and they wanted me if they were going national. Going national would have been moving away from here. My home is here."

"Why would you turn down that opportunity, Clark?" Lois asked as she tilted her head to the side and stared at him. "It's a great opportunity, a once in a lifetime opportunity.  
I know. Why would you give that all up?"

"I don't know, Lois?" Clark turned around and then turned back to her. "My heart wasn't in television. I'm a journalist. Nothing is more important than uncovering the truth and delivering it to the people of Metropolis."

Lois eyed him, studying his face carefully.

"Smallville, you're lying," she said.

Clark shook his head. "What? No." Lois nodded at him again and he sighed. "How'd you get that?"

Lois looked at him. "Number one, you're a good journalist, but your heart residing in journalism? You're still getting there. You're holding back on really delving into the truth."

Clark thought it over for a second and conceded the point. "Number two?"

Lois smiled. "Just something you do with your face when you are trying to find the words. You know, like, 'I had to go check on the dry cleaning.' I just know you."

Clark sighed. "Number three?"

Lois shrugged. "There is no three. I only need the two reasons to pick up on your behavior."

"Well," Clark said as he looked up towards the ceiling. "There was a real reason I couldn't leave the Daily Planet."

"Which was what?" Lois asked.

"That was your gig," Clark said as he pointed towards Lois. "You dragged me to it, I did it for you. I did it to try and show you I'm willing to humiliate myself on television in order to prove to you that I was worth that second date."

"Yeeeaaah," she said slowly sizing him up and unsure of his admission.

Clark sighed. "They wanted me," he said pointing to himself. "And they wanted me to leave my job."

"So?" She asked in defiance. "They were offering a much better deal, you wouldn't have Cruella De Vil looking over your shoulder all the time as well." Lois stopped for a moment to think of all the times she'd caught Tess skulking around Clark. She really seemed a little too interested in his business for Lois' liking.

"But I would have had to leave you behind, Lois," Clark said as if it pained him to even think the thought. "And I am at the Daily Planet because of you, Lois." Clark hesitated for a moment and then continued with a smile. "I came back for you, I wasn't about to leave my future," he stopped and swallowed. "Um, my future Bernstein behind."

"You didn't want to leave me behind?" Lois asked in a whisper.

Clark shook his head. "I'd never."

"You're amazing Smallville." She swallowed. "Although, I'm more Woodward and you're more Bernstein."

Clark looked at her puzzled. "You called me a real Edward R. Murrow last week though?"

"That was supposed to be an insult, Smallville." Lois thought about the denied dinner award show. "Edward R. Murrow and I aren't on speaking terms." Lois shook her head. "Anyway, do you want to be part of my team or not, Smallville?"

Clark smiled. "I'm here aren't I?"

Lois crossed the room over to him. She kissed him softly, as he wrapped his arms around her.

"I know your other secret though, too," she whispered into his ear.

Clark coughed. He turned and looked at her. "Which other secret?"

She reaches out, and begins to unbutton his shirt. "The Blur."

Clark looked at her guiltily. "Who would have thought Clark Kent was secretly wearing this under his shirt?" She asked as she pulled his shirt open. "I knew you had more than one."

The black t-shirt with the silver S stared at both of them.

Clark swallowed and opened his mouth.

"Lois, I," he stopped and didn't seem to have words to explain himself.

"Wait," Lois said before he could continue. "I want to show you something, too."

Lois unbuttoned her blue blouse slowly. Clark stared at her in confusion as she finished with the last button and opened her shirt. Underneath her blouse a very similar black t-shirt in a smaller size with a silver S stared at them both.

Clark had a puzzled expression on his face. Lois grinned widely.

"We are so in synch, we both have Blur shirts," Lois said enthusiastically. "It's like we're a real couple, with similar interests. It's such a relief, that we're both really fans of something similar. I mean Superheroes are an odd joint interest, but he is so amazing, and he's saved me several times. I'm good friends with him actually, Smallville," Lois rapid, rambling speech came to a halt momentarily. Clark stared at her in disbelief and blinked three times. "Maybe I could introduce you to him someday. But definitely after I get my exclusive interview with the city's reclusive super hero."

"Really? That would be interesting," Clark said and rubbed his hand thru his hair.

"The one thing I don't get," she looked down at his shirt, rubbing her fingers over the S pattern. "I think you got ripped off, Smallville."

"What do you mean?" Clark asked confused.

"Look at my shirt," Lois said as she grabbed his large hand, a momentary flash of him holding her on a bed, fingers tearing open her blouse. She shook away the memory. "Um," she traced his fingers over her chest over her S, feeling his finger moving over her chest and sighed happily. "Mine is silk screened on. It's authentic."

Clark gave her a perplexed look.

She nodded. "Yours is obviously a cheap knock off from Suicide Slums or something. You wash it once and the magic marker used to make that design is going to wash off. Or it will fade."

He blinked in disbelief and thought about it for a moment.

"I guess you're right, Lois. Whoever made this didn't know what he was doing. And maybe he even used a magic marker to draw the symbol on," Clark admitted.

Lois kissed him softly. "And?"

He sighed, "And maybe I got ripped off."

Lois kissed him again. "And?"

"Maybe I should borrow the shirt off your back?" Clark asked.

She kissed him a little deeper. "And?"

"Maybe I should rip it off?" He asked with a wicked smile.

Lois gasped and pulled away sharply and clutched at her shirt. "Oh, don't you dare do that. It's my second favorite shirt."

Clark frowned. "Second favorite?" he asked confused.

Lois nodded and smiled. "Well, second favorite to my Maximum Destruction t-shirt."

Clark scowled as he gazed at her and titled his head as he asked in exasperation, "The Blur loses out to a truck?"

"Maximum Destruction is more than just a truck, Smallville," Lois tried to explain. She sighed as Clark's face registered little recognition. She sighed, thinking to herself it was like teaching a cow how to fly.

"Maximum Destruction represents so much more than just a truck. It's a dream. It's a legend. It's part of America. It literally is the American dream come to life, shaped in fire, constructed of steel, it is the future of all that is good in the world."

Clark ran a hand thru his hair and thought over her words for a moment. "But he just crushes other trucks? What lesson is that? Squash the competition and the helpless other vehicles and you win?"

Lois scoffed. "Duh. You don't just win. You win the Indianapolis Monster Jam and take a decisive lead in the Monster Jam standings."

Clark shook his head. "I still can't believe that was our real first second date."

Lois dismissed his words with a wave of her hands. "And the Blur is amazing, but he's not the guy who stayed with me three extra hours after Monster Jam ended to interview Tom Meents, the driver of Maximum Destruction and a gifted athlete."

"Well, yeah, I'm the guy who sticks around. I'm always around, Lois," he whispered into her ear. Clark hesitated for a moment but then said, "Lois, I don't think you can justify calling someone who drives a car as being a true athlete," Clark voiced cautiously.

Lois' cold stare made Clark close his mouth. "Smallville, I'm going to ignore that statement on the basis that you'd like to stick around and see another Christmas in your future."

Clark weighed his options. "Tom Meents is an Olympic caliber driver?" He asked cautiously as Lois nodded in approval. "He is one of the finest individuals the world has ever seen. And I would gladly wait with you again, so you can," Clark made quote gestures with his fingers, "interview him."

"Are you making fun of my interview tactics?" Lois asked crossing her hands over the S on her chest.

Clark shook his head. "No. But having him autograph about fifteen different items of memorabilia does not count as an icebreaker or off-the-record activities." Clark kissed her forehead. "But your interview was good. Brady had to run the story because it was so well written."

A soft laugh escaped Lois' lips as she squeezed Clark's hand tight. "That's better."

Clark took a step towards her, embracing her again. "Now what kind of athlete does it take to remove that shirt?"

Lois smiled. "A former all-state championship quarterback," she whispered as Clark's hands slid under her shirt and lifted it above her head. He kissed her neck and moved down her chest and stopped for a moment. Lois looked down to see Clark holding her necklace in his hands.

"I knew you wouldn't have left the Planet," she said as she ran her hands thru his hair. Clark looked up at her and her hand wrapped around his holding the bullet necklace. "You wouldn't have left your heart behind."

Clark chuckled.

"I still enjoy giving you a hard time though." Lois kissed him again running her hands under his shirt as his fingers undid her bra.

"I can give you a hard time right back, Lois," Clark lustily said as he held her close and kissed her.

"You're welcome to do so anytime, Smallville," Lois said lustily back.

Clark lifted her up and threw her over his shoulder as Lois gave a playful shriek of protest.

"What are you doing, Smallville?" Lois asked with a giggle.

Clark marched up the steps carrying her. "Well, taking you someplace to give you that hard time, Lane."

Lois felt her stomach flutter as he gave her behind a playful swat. "You're in for it now, Smallville."

"I can't wait," Clark said as he closed the door behind them.

THE END

**_[A/N Hope you enjoyed the story as much as I enjoyed doing the research, and writing it. Thanks for taking the time to read it.]_**


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